Red Mountain National Forest Park is China’s only man-made national forest park, located on the banks of the Yingjin River in the northeastern part of Hongshan District, the pearl of the frontier city Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. The core attraction, Red Mountain, gets its name from its crimson rock formations: jagged bizarre stones, fiery red cliff faces framed by lush green trees, presenting a grand and magnificent view. Red Mountain is not only the symbol of Chifeng but also one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilisation. The Hongshan Culture pushes the recorded history of Chinese civilisation over a thousand years earlier. Climbing to the summit of Red Mountain, visitors can overlook the entire urban landscape of Chifeng and gaze across the river at the winding ruins of the Northern Yan Great Wall northeast of the mountain.

Public Bus: Take Bus No.1, No.2 or No.7 within the city and alight at Hongshan Park Stop.

Affiliated to the Beijing Military Region, Hongshan Military Horse Ranch was founded in August 1964, mainly tasked with supplying military horses to border defence troops. It lies in the core zone of the ancient Ulan Butong Battlefield at the southwestern tip of Hexigten Banner (Global Geopark), Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. “Ulan Butong” translates to “red altar-shaped mountain” in Mongolian, referring to Greater and Lesser Red Mountains, hence the ranch’s name. It borders Saihanba Mechanised Forest Farm of Hebei Province to the south and the Hunshandake Desert to the north, covering a total area of 413,000 mu. It is 110 kilometres north of Hexigten Banner, 105 kilometres south of Weichang County, 230 kilometres from Chengde and 468 kilometres from Beijing.

Situated on the Bashang Plateau at the junction of the remaining Greater Khingan Range and Yin Mountains, the area is called Saihandabahan in Mongolian, meaning “beautiful high ridge”, widely known as Saihanba. Within the ranch’s territory are 191,000 mu of high-quality grassland, 86,000 mu of forest, 32,000 mu of marshland and 3,000 mu of water surface. Five rivers flow through the ranch: the Tuligen River, Hongsong River, Yanziyao River, Shashubai River and Laoguandian River, forming the main source of the Luan River.

A typical hilly grassland, the ranch has an average altitude of 1,500 metres, an average annual temperature of 1°C, a maximum temperature of 32°C and a minimum temperature of -43°C, featuring a temperate continental monsoon climate. Boasting fertile soil, moderate rainfall and abundant water and grass, the ranch hosts 680 plant species. Major tree varieties include silver birch, aspen, oak, Siberian crabapple and wild grape. More than 3,000 sandy spruce trees, dubbed “living fossils” and a biological gene bank, grow here. Shrub species mainly include daurian rhododendron, rose and tiger hazelnut. It abounds in all-natural wild ingredients such as mushrooms, daylilies and bracken, alongside 358 rare and valuable Chinese medicinal herbs including peony and bupleurum, giving rise to the local saying “Every three steps, three kinds of medicinal grass grow beneath your feet”. Ornamental wild plants include wild chrysanthemum, daylily, wintersweet and trollflower. Over 40 animal species inhabit the land, primarily sika deer, Mongolian gazelle, roe deer and wild boar.