Journeys in Nature_ Beautiful highland in northern China

Saihanba National Forest Park, the largest forest park in northern China, is located in Weichang, Manchu and Mongolian Autonomous County in Hebei Province. The word Saihan is Mongolian, meaning beautiful. Saihanba means beautiful highland. Covering 94,000 hectares, the Saihanba Forest Park is man-made and the largest mechanized forest farm in China. It lies where the Inner Mongolian Plateau meets the uplands of northern Hebei. With over 70,000 hectares of trees, its forest coverage is 80 percent. It also contains 15,000 hectares of grassland and a vast area of wetland. The dense forest provides a habitat where more than 600 plants and nearly 1,000 animal species grow and thrive. Asian white birches form the largest area of natural secondary forest in Saihanba. They mingle with Prince Rubrik's larches, Mongol scotch pines and other trees. The forest mainly comprises trees that have been specially planted in unique patterns. The Prince Rubrik's larch is a native species. With its adaptability to the local environment, it has become dominant here. The Mongol scotch pine is resistant to cold and grows in dry sandy soil, so these two trees have been widely planted here. Decades of afforestation have seen the Saihanba Forest laid out according to the tree's characteristics and the natural conditions. The early winter snow turns the air cold in Saihanba. The streams in the valley are yet to freeze over and so the red deer are drawn out of the woods. The reappearance of red deer in the area is a relatively recent phenomenon. In the past, due to human activity, Saihanba was one of the most severely devastated permeable forests in country. The red deer lost their natural habitat and disappeared. Through decades of hard work by several generations of tree planters, a forest belt over 50 kilometers long from east to west and 17 kilometers wide from north to south was created on a beautiful highland. The red deer have reappeared and are roaming the dense forest again. The restoration of the greenery has brought the animals back and created a shield protecting the plain from sand and dust storms and the cold dry air from This phenomenon is nature's reward for humankind.