HanPath

白城市

bái chéng · Baicheng

Wetlands and cranes at the edge of the steppe

Why this place

Baicheng is a small city on the Songnen plain, and just south of it is Xianghai — a Ramsar wetland that is one of the largest breeding grounds for the red-crowned crane in China. This is where grassland, marsh and salt flats meet.

What to see

  • Xianghai Nature Reserve — red-crowned cranes, swans and hundreds of other bird species
  • Momoge wetland, further north, another major crane and stork site
  • Songnen grassland and the saline flats that make this landscape so strange

What to eat

  • Grassland mutton and millet
  • Freshwater fish from the wetlands

Best time

April–June and September–October for the birds

吉林省 · Jilin China Guide