Greater Khingan - History

History

Its slopes are relatively rich grazing area and was the region that the Khitan people emerged from before establishing the Liao Dynasty in the tenth century.

The Da Hinggan region was to a large extent unexplored until the 20th century. The exploitation of the northern part of the region began with the construction early in the 20th century of the first railway across the mountains—the Chinese Eastern Railroad from Qiqihar in Heilongjiang province, to Manzhouli, north of Lake Hulun, in northeastern Inner Mongolia near the border with Russia. During the Japanese occupation of Northeast China (Manchuria; 1931–45), a number of railways were constructed into the mountains north and south of this line in order to extract lumber, the most important being those running into the area north of Tulihe (Tol Gol). These lines were later extended eastward into the Yilehuli Mountains, which strike east and west and join the Da Hinggan Range to the Xiao Hinggan Range. Farther south a more recent line follows the Tao’er River valley northwest from Baicheng in Jilin province to Suolun (Solon) and the hot springs at Arxan in Inner Mongolia.

Much of the area is inhabited by peoples speaking Mongol and, in the north, Manchu-Tungus languages, such as the Orochon and Evenk. Logging continues to be the major economic activity.