14 Days in Baicheng

Settle in, then the suburban resort whose Mongolian name Chaganhaote means white city and gave Baicheng its name; the city museum's Liao and Jin galleries set up the fortnight.

1. baicheng chaganhaote resort
2. baicheng city museum

Run southwest into Tongyu County and out to the reserve for the evening flight of cranes over the reeds; spend the night at Xianghai so tomorrow starts at dawn.

1. baicheng xianghai nature reserve

Dawn is when the cranes lift off the marshes — then the visitor center exhibits, the drive back through Tongyu town for its calligraphy stele garden, and Baicheng by night.

1. baicheng xianghai nature reserve
2. baicheng tongyu mobao garden

North into Zhenlai County for the reed marshes where most of the world's Siberian cranes rest on migration; take the boardwalks slowly and stay for the late light over the water.

1. baicheng momoge nature reserve

East to Da'an on the Nenjiang for the riverside wetland park, then the fields where Liao emperors held their spring camps — a nationally protected archaeological site still being excavated.

1. baicheng nenjiang bay wetland park
2. baicheng liao chunnabo sites

A slow riverside day between excursion blocks — tea houses, a second pass through the museum, and an early night before the Taonan day.

1. baicheng city museum

A short hop to Taonan for the Qing-era Tian'en Diju office that once administered Mongolian banner affairs, and the Republican-era mansion of warlord general Wu Junsheng.

1. baicheng tianen diju
2. baicheng wujunsheng mansion

Honest neighbor day — across the border into Inner Mongolia's Xing'an League, about an hour by fast rail, for the hilltop Genghis Khan Temple and the league's museums, back to Baicheng by evening.

1. ulanhot

An overnight neighbor run-out, said plainly — west on the old Baicheng-Arxan line into Inner Mongolia's volcanic forest park for lava landforms and forest valleys; sleep in Arxan town.

1. arxan forest park

Morning up to the crater-lake rim among the larches, an afternoon soak in the hot springs Arxan is known for, then the train back to Baicheng by night.

1. arxan tianchi

Another plain-labeled neighbor trip, north into Heilongjiang by regular rail; settle in and spend the evening around the old town and the Nenjiang bank before tomorrow's marshes.

1. qiqihar

Out early to the Zhalong Nature Reserve for the crane flight and feeding hours, the rest of the day in the city, then the evening train back to Baicheng.

1. qiqihar

A gentle home day — the museum galleries again with what you now know, parks and riverside paths, and an early night before departure.

1. baicheng city museum

A market breakfast and a last stroll, then the fast train from Baicheng toward Changchun or Ulanhot for onward connections.

1. baicheng city markets