Changbai Mountain Added to UNESCO’S World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 1986
The Changbai Mountain Biosphere Reserve is located in northeast China’s Jilin Province. The topography is composed of a basalt platform, basalt slope highlands and cone-like volcanoes. Craters produced in the distant past now form lakes, which are surrounded by 16 mountains. The highest peak, Changbai Mountain, rises 2,691 meters above sea level. At the summit of the mountain, there are Heavenly Lake, hot springs and a waterfall.
Small volcanoes stretch from the northwest to the southeast, and delineate the border of the reserve.
The temperate continental climate of the reserve is influenced by monsoons. The vegetation within the area also alters with the altitude, encompassing deciduous forests, mixed coniferous-broadleaf forests with Pinus koraiensis, coniferous forests, dwarfbirch forests and alpine tundra. The flora comprises European, Siberian and central
Chinese species, and includes 1,800 species of vascular plants. The biosphere reserve also provides a habitat for the Siberian tiger, the largest tiger subspecies in the world.
Tourism has become a key activity with millions of tourists visiting the reserve during summer season. The authorities also work together with local communities to diversify the local economy, for instance, through the cultivation of economic and medicinal plants.