BEIJING, March 22
-- Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has launched a series of books titled
"Wonderful Land: Heilongjiang, seeking to showcase treasures of the province",
said Li Yanzhi, chief editor of the book series.
Organized by the Publicity Department of the Heilongjiang Provincial
Committee of the Communist Party of China, a team of experts took four years to
prepare the series containing a comprehensive account of the province.
The series consists of 10 books on nine topics, covering the province's
historical personalities, ethnic minorities, natural resources, landscape,
places of interest, cities, legends, history and famous products.
Heilongjiang Province covers a land area of 454,600 square kilometers and
has a population of more than 38 million. Known for its mountains, rivers and
lakes, the frontier province possesses abundant natural beauty and unique
charms.
Heilongjiang is home to six mountain ranges, the Great Xing'an, Lesser
Xing'an, Zhangguangcai, Laoye, Taiping and Wanda, while the Heilong, Songhua,
Ussuri and Nenjiang rivers flow through it. The Xingkai, Jingpo and Wudalianchi
lakes are also situated there.
All of these are detailed in the "Landscapes of Heilongjiang" section of
the series, which unfolds a scroll of picturesque landscapes for readers.
The Songnen and Sanjiang plains in the province are China's key
agricultural bases, where beans, corn, rice and potatoes are the main produce.
With 18.8 million hectares of forestland, the province boasts 42.4 percent
green coverage, the highest in the country.
This vast and rich land is naturally home to a great variety of flora and
fauna.
More than 100 kinds of trees grow in the province, including various
species of cedar, larch, ash and Mongolian scotch pine.
Wild animals like Siberian tigers roaming in shadowy forests, red-crowned
cranes dancing in reed marshes and Sika deer gamboling in the grasslands add
life to the green world.
Rivers and lakes nourish more than 100 species of fishes, including the
Siberian buso sturgeon, salmon and topmouth culter.
Medicinal herbs like ginseng, reishi mushroom and pilose antler, and wild
vegetables including black fungus, fern and monkey-head mushroom, as well as
mineral resources such as petroleum, coal, graphite and gold are seen as gifts
of nature bestowed upon the province.
"When enjoying the rich natural resources, we should bear in mind that we
are obligated to value and protect the natural environment," said a reader of
the "Natural Resources of Heilongjiang", which discusses the province's wealth
of natural resources, seeking to raise public awareness of ecological
preservation and the harmonious co-existence of human beings and wildlife.
As the "History of Heilongjiang" indicates, the province's history can be
traced back more than 40,000 years, to the Old Stone Age.
The study of archaeological discoveries in the province provides evidence
that clan societies existed in the region at least 6,000 years ago.
Heilongjiang Province used to be called the Great Northern Wilderness for
its vast stretches of uncultivated lands. It was believed that the region had
long remained barren, even in ancient times.
But such a belief was proved wrong by archaeological findings, which proved
that the frontier economy was once considerably developed.
Backed by strong evidence, the "History of Heilongjiang" clears misconceptions about the region and highlights key historical events that occurred there.
Print
