Qian Gorlos Mongolian Autonomous County 前郭尔罗斯蒙古族自治县

Setting and landscape

The Songhua (松花江) and Nen (嫩江) rivers join in the county at the place called Sanchahekou (三岔河口), and across the river to the east lies Zhaoyuan County (肇源县) in Heilongjiang. The county government describes the land as the overlap of the Northeast Plain, the Songnen Plain and the Horqin (科尔沁) grassland. The climate is temperate continental monsoon, with an average annual temperature of 6.0 °C and about 441 millimetres of rain a year.

Chagan Lake, in the north-west of the county at the end of the Huolin River (霍林河), takes its name from the Mongolian for "white lake" or "holy lake". Reservoirs built upstream once shrank it to about 50 square kilometres, and it recovered after water from the Songhua was brought in. It holds 68 kinds of fish, including bighead carp, common carp and silver carp, and became a national nature reserve in 2007.

History and culture

The county traces local history back 13,000 years to "Qingshantou Man" (古青山头人), and counts 167 surviving historic sites. The Chagan Nur winter fishing custom (查干淖尔冬捕习俗) entered the national intangible-heritage list in 2008. According to the national heritage centre, the lake rites began in 1211, when Genghis Khan came to make offerings at the lake after taking the Jin stronghold of Tahu (塔虎城); fishermen still hold rites to bless and "wake" the nets before the winter catch. Nets more than two kilometres long are laid through holes drilled in the ice, with a wide mesh that lets fish under five years old escape. One haul under the ice, of 260,000 kilograms, set a Guinness World Record.

The county calls itself the home of the horsehead fiddle (马头琴); another Guinness record came from 2,019 fiddlers playing together. Its intangible heritage includes Uliger (乌力格尔) storytelling and the epic of Toktokhu (陶克陶胡).

What to see

The Genghis Khan Cultural Park (成吉思汗文化园), between the Gorlos road and the Songhua, has a bronze standing statue of Genghis Khan 22 metres tall and a 239-tonne "Genghis Khan Stone" carved with Mongolian motifs; the county describes it as the largest Genghis Khan theme park in China.

Getting oriented

The Changchun–Baicheng (长白) and Songyuan–Taolaizhao (松陶) railways cross the county, the Daqing–Guangzhou, Hunchun–Ulanhot and Songyuan–Tongyu expressways meet here, and the county has an airport, Chagan Lake Airport (查干湖机场).

Highlights

• Chagan Lake 查干湖: Lake at the end of the Huolin River, a national nature reserve since 2007.
• Chagan Nur winter fishing custom 查干淖尔冬捕习俗: National intangible heritage since 2008; net-blessing rites before fishing through the ice.
• Genghis Khan Cultural Park 成吉思汗文化园: Park beside the Songhua with a 22-metre statue of Genghis Khan.
• Horsehead fiddle 马头琴: The county calls itself the home of the instrument; 2,019 players set a Guinness record.