Songjianghe松江河

Songjianghe is a township under Fusong County, known as "the first town at the foot of Changbai Mountain," sitting deep in the West Slope region. It grew out of the forestry industry and still runs on it — forest coverage here reaches 93.73%. The town was established in 1961, carved out of the former Donggang commune, and grew from a forestry-bureau outpost into a formal town through the 1950s–60s, once a frontline post of early-PRC forestry. In 2014, seven ministries including Housing and Urban-Rural Development named it a "National Key Town"; in 2017, it was named to the second batch of "National Featured Towns." Today this former logging town has turned into the gateway for West Slope tourism: China's first forest-tourism airport (Changbai Mountain Airport) and a high-speed rail station (Changbai West) both sit in the same small town — a rare one-town, two-gateway setup nationwide.

A forestry town in transition

Born of the forest, grown by the forest

• Forest coverage reaches 93.73% — this was once a frontline post of early-PRC forestry
• Established in 1961 out of the former Donggang commune — a classic case of industry first, township second
• Named a "National Key Town" in 2014 by seven ministries, then a "National Featured Town" in 2017
• The old Songjianghe Forestry Bureau is still part of local institutional memory, and daily life here still carries traces of a forestry-community rhythm

Changbai Mountain's West Slope

1,442 steps, all the way to Heaven Lake

• The West Slope is one of Changbai Mountain's three visitor slopes (North/West/South), known for the 1,442-step climb to the Heaven Lake viewing platform — widely considered one of the better vantage angles of the three
• The Alpine Garden is a rare stretch of untouched high-altitude tundra vegetation in Northeast Asia, blooming mid-July to early August into a carpet of wildflowers
• Jinjiang Grand Canyon, nicknamed "Changbai's mini Huangshan," is a red-brown volcanic-lava canyon with boardwalk trails — a good half-day add-on beyond the lake
• Changbai Mountain Airport, China's first forest-tourism airport, sits only about 15km from the West Slope scenic area and was built specifically around West Slope tourism

Food & Flavor

Northeastern flavor, stewed from what the mountain gives

• Fragrant-fish iron-pot stew is the local signature — simmered raw with a house blend of seasonings, paired with a cold cucumber-and-pig's-mouth-mushroom side dish
• Xingchen grilled meat and Dazi roast lamb leg are local favorites for grilling and stewing
• The Changbai forest region grows ginseng, blueberries, matsutake and wood ear in abundance, and stews here often carry that forest-grown flavor
• Dining around the Wanda resort runs more international, while the town's old-school spots stay homier and local — both are worth trying