5 Days in Wudalianchi

Morning in the geology museum for the 1719-1721 story through Qing records, then up Laoheishan, 515.9 metres to the rim walk over the youngest rock in the province.

1. wudalianchi volcano museum
2. wudalianchi laoheishan

Cold mineral water barely above freezing at the north and south drinking springs — jugs, queues and an iron tang — then the little cone of Yaoquanshan, about 356 metres, with a temple folded inside its old crater.

1. wudalianchi beiyin spring
2. wudalianchi nanyin spring
3. wudalianchi yaoquan hill

A morning in the block-lava fortress of Longmen, where slabs stand on end in ramparts you can walk between — the plain here cooled slowly enough to keep its sculpture.

1. wudalianchi longmen shizhai

The spring-fed ponds of Wenbo hold open water through winters down to minus 30, and the five barrier lakes string south — boat landings and reed edges between the lava and the fields.

1. wudalianchi wenbo ponds
2. wudalianchi five lakes

The lava-tube ice cave in the morning cool, a last mineral-water tasting in the scenic-area town, then the road back north toward the rail head at Bei'an, about 70 kilometres out.

1. wudalianchi ice cave
2. wudalianchi scenic town