Aershan City is located in the northwest of Hinggan League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Its full name is Hara Aershan, meaning "Holy Hot Springs". The world’s largest cluster of hot springs has flowed here for centuries.

Aershan is a natural oxygen bar covered in lush vegetation and once served as an outdoor shooting location for the movie The Banquet. The National Forest Park boasts numerous scenic spots including Heavenly Lake, Three Ponds Gorge, Azalea Lake and Stone Pond Forest. Additionally, Haisheng Holy Spring Sanatorium is a perfect place to relax. Different springs offer distinct therapeutic effects and work remarkably well on a wide range of illnesses, hence the name "Holy Springs".

Within the park stand Telmei Mountain, the highest peak of the Greater Khingan Range (1,378 meters above sea level), and Dalbin Lake, the largest lake in the Greater Khingan Range. It features Asia-exclusive Stone Pond Forest and Heavenly Lake, landforms formed by lava flows during ancient volcanic eruptions. Boasting rare and world-famous mineral spring resources that integrate drinking, bathing and medical treatment, the springs are hailed as miraculous springs under heaven. The park also features the three core tourism highlights valued by modern travelers: sunshine, fresh air and green landscapes.

Peak season: 180 RMB Off-season: 150 RMB

Ancient volcanic activity shaped extensive hot spring clusters across the Aershan area. Vast amounts of beneficial minerals and trace elements dissolve in the groundwater due to varied recharge patterns. Each spring delivers unique medical benefits with outstanding curative effects for many diseases, earning them the reputation of "Holy Springs". Every year, the resort draws countless visitors for sightseeing, bathing and recuperation thanks to its far-reaching fame.

Hot spring bathing: 168 RMB Hot spring swimming pool: 68 RMB Half price for children

Nestled amid rolling mountains and dense forests on both sides of Hot Spring Street in downtown Aershan, this top-tier domestic ski resort ranks among China’s finest. After on-site inspections and trial training by China’s national ski team, it has been designated as the official training base for the national squad.

The resort consists of two major zones: a competition training area and a recreational ski area. The competition zone is built to international standards, equipped with alpine ski jumps, cross-country trails and freestyle skiing grounds. The recreational zone covers over 90,000 square meters of ski runs. Both East Hill and West Hill ski areas are fitted with cable cars, snowmaking machines and snowmobiles for skiers.

The East Hill Ski Area features downhill runs as well as intermediate and beginner slopes, along with one double-seat chairlift, two T-bar lifts and one simple pull lift. Covering around 4 square kilometers, it centers on alpine skiing while catering to snowboarders. A typical urban hot-spring ski resort, it offers floodlit trails, children’s runs, beginner slopes, snow tubing tracks and sleigh routes, plus a dedicated ski simulator for new learners.

Weekdays: 150 RMB per day Holidays: 180 RMB per day

4 to 6 daily coach buses run between Ulanhot and Aershan.

Rose Peak lies roughly 25 kilometers north of downtown Aershan and 10 kilometers northwest of Yiershi Town. Locally named Red Rock Crags, it is composed of granite syenite and red sandstone with an overall reddish-brown hue, giving rise to its local moniker. Long-term crustal uplift, intense river erosion and freeze-thaw weathering have carved a dramatic landscape of jagged peaks and steep valleys. More than a dozen steep peaks stand scattered in varied striking shapes, grand and imposing. An ancient trail winds beneath the peaks, said to have served as a vital military passage during the famous Nomonhan War in northern history.

The scenic area comprises over ten scattered, jagged yet magnificent stone peaks. Most rock faces glow reddish-brown, hence the formal name Rose Peak, or Red Rock Crags. Traces of its name can be uncovered in historical records. The upper reaches of the Halahai River in Aershan, a transitional zone between Greater Khingan forests and grasslands, were the cradle of Genghis Khan’s northern cavalry. The military passage beneath Rose Peak was the battlefield of the Battle of Queyitan. Backed by the Greater Khingan forests and facing vast grasslands, the whole Aershan region once formed the base for Temujin’s unification of the Mongolian Plateau. The Queyitan Grassland north of Rose Peak was the birthplace of Genghis Khan’s cavalry and the source of strength for his southern campaigns and westward expeditions.

Camel Hump Ridge Heavenly Lake is a high-altitude crater lake formed by accumulated rainwater after volcanic eruptions, sitting at an elevation of 1,284 meters. Shaped like a human left foot, it stretches approximately 450 meters east to west and 800 meters north to south, covering 26 hectares. Classified as a maar lake, it formed around 300,000 years ago. Visitors can find pumice stones here — stones that float when placed in water.

A touching legend surrounds the pumice of Camel Hump Ridge. Long ago, an elderly Mongolian mother and her daughter Sangrile lived alone at the foot of the lake. When the girl reached marriageable age, the mother grew anxious about finding her a partner. One day she led a camel, fed it well and poured out her worries. The camel appeared sentient, opening its eyes wide and snorting loudly. Learning of this, the girl tied her beloved bronze mirror between the camel’s humps and told it: the first man whose reflection appears in this mirror shall be my beloved. The camel’s bell faded into the forest as it wandered far away.

Halahai means "barrier" in Mongolian. The west riverbank stands higher than the east, so the west shore appears like a long stone wall to anyone looking across from the east, lending the river its name. Originating north of Motian Ridge in Aershan, the upper Halahai cuts through volcanic lava terrain and winds westward through dense forests. South of Handagai and Amugulang in Left New Barag Banner, it becomes the China-Mongolia border river, flowing through Mongolia into Buir Lake before looping back into China to feed Hulun Lake. The full river length reaches 399 kilometers, 154 kilometers of which run through Aershan City. The river measures 100 to 200 meters wide and 1 to 2 meters deep, with an average discharge of 13.7 cubic meters per second.

The Aershan stretch boasts breathtaking scenery, lined with thick vegetation and ancient towering trees. The clear, low-sediment river is dotted with small islets and shallow bays, ideal for angling and rafting.

Flowing from east to west into Mongolia’s Buir Lake before curving back into China to join Hulun Lake, the Halahai is affectionately nicknamed the "Patriotic River". Primitive plant clusters thrive along its banks, and the winding waterway winds through lofty mountains. The river abounds in rare cold-water fish, most notably large taimen. Every spring, schools of taimen swim upstream amid peach blossom floods, famed for their tender meat. Wooden raft drifting is available along the middle and lower reaches, allowing visitors to fully embrace the charm of unspoiled nature.