5 Days in Baicheng

Settle in, then the suburban resort whose Mongolian name Chaganhaote means white city and gave Baicheng its name — grassland, yurts and the Qing-era twin stupas before dinner back downtown.

1. baicheng chaganhaote resort

A full day southwest into Tongyu County — the calligraphy stele garden in town, then the reserve where red-crowned cranes pass over reed beds, Mongolian elm and dunes. Locals say east Changbai, west Xianghai.

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

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 last morning with the city museum's Liao and Jin finds, a market lunch, then the fast train from Baicheng toward Changchun or Ulanhot.

1. baicheng city museum
2. baicheng city markets