From Zhalantun, our bus took us southwest to Aershan Nature Forest Reserve, a huge (in excess of 100,000 hectares) forest reserve. This area is also being referred to as Aershan National Geopark. This Park is well known for its dramatic volcanic landscape, dense forests, mountaintop crater lakes, rivers and grassland. Infrastructure in the Park is well developed, with well prepared timber-decked boardwalks and paths making walking around the Park more pleasant and easy.
We were first taken to Dujuan Lake, a volcanic crater lake. The word Dujuan means Azalea, a well known flower in China. The lake is supposed to be surrounded by Azalea flowers during Spring. Unfortunately, there was no sign of Azalea when we were there.
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| Solidified volcanic lava are aplenty in Dujuan Lake. |
The Park is reported to have over 90 species of animals. As we walked along the boardwalk, we saw a few rather friendly little squirrels.
The walk around Dujuan Lake was monotonous after some time. But then, it was spiced up by the comical translations of the many signboards.
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After Dujuan Lake, we were taken to another area to do forest trekking. The stretch which traverses alongside the meandering Halaha River was particularly scenic.
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Our visit to the Park finally ended at the Tianchi or the Heavenly Lake, a mountaintop crater lake. It was by far the most challenging because of the need to climb 998 steps up and then 768 steps down.
Everything looked so green during the time of our visit. We were told that during Autumn, the colours of leaves of the surrounding trees and shrubs would turn the water surface golden and reddish. By Winter, the lake surface becomes a huge skating ring with the surrounding area blanketed with white snow!
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| Part of Tianchi. |
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Spectacular view of the Tianchizhen or Tianchi City as
we descended the hill.
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