Jiangyuan District 江源区

What to see

Ganfanpen (干饭盆) is a national forest park and 3A scenic area of about 15 by 7.5 kilometres, where rings of forested ridges enclose basin after basin; local lore speaks of 'eighty-one basins'. The district government calls it the 'Bermuda of Changbai Mountain' and lists among its unexplained puzzles why people get lost in the basins and why compasses fail. During the war against Japan, the anti-Japanese forces led by Yang Jingyu (杨靖宇) and Wang Detai (王德泰) camped and stored supplies in the basins.

Xianrengu (仙人谷), about 50 kilometres from the city on the Linjiang border, has two parts: a stone forest of large boulders at 1,320 metres and the Lijiadian meadow (李家店草坪), a highland grassland at 1,100 metres on the watershed, known for maple colours in October. It was one of the filming locations of the CCTV drama A Lifelong Journey (人世间).

The Changbai Mountain Stone Culture City (长白山奇石文化城), built from 2009, groups a stone village, a stone square and a museum of Songhua stone (松花石), and is on the provincial government's first list of cultural-industry demonstration parks.

History

Shiren Xueleishan (石人血泪山), 'Blood and Tears Hill' in Dashiren town (大石人镇), recalls the coal mine that the Japanese seized in 1937, where the bodies of countless miners who died from abuse were thrown on the hill; the miners gave it its present name. It has been a Jilin provincial protected heritage site since 1983.

In 1945 the area was Sunjiabaozi town (孙家堡子镇) in Linjiang County (临江县), and the town of Sanchazi (三岔子镇) was set up here in 1956. Sanchazi became a district of Hunjiang city in 1985, was turned into Jiangyuan County in 1995, and became Jiangyuan District of Baishan on 5 June 2006.

Highlights

• Ganfanpen 干饭盆: National forest park and 3A scenic area of ring-shaped forested basins, a wartime camp of the anti-Japanese forces.
• Shiren Xueleishan 石人血泪山: Hill where the bodies of miners from the Japanese-run coal mine were dumped; provincial protected site since 1983.
• Xianrengu 仙人谷: Stone forest and highland meadow on the Linjiang border, a filming location of A Lifelong Journey.