Cuiping Mountain in Zhalantun City, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, at sunrise with azaleas in full bloom. [Photo by Han Leng]

Zhalantun, a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Hulun Buir City, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, boasts a vast expanse of lush native forest covering 1,183,600 hectares, along with 280,000 hectares of pastures and 48,500 hectares of wetlands. The Yalu River stretches for hundreds of miles across the city, while the tranquil and crystal-clear Ji'erguo Lake is nestled atop the high mountains and secluded forests. Thanks to its abundant natural resources, Zhalantun has earned the reputation of being "Suzhou and Hangzhou beyond the Great Wall," as the two cities in east China's Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces, respectively, are well known in China for being slices of paradise on Earth.