Daxinganling is located in the far north of China. It lies west of Xiaoxinanling, east of Inner Mongolia, north of the Songnen Plain, and south of Russia. The area has been inhabited since the late Stone Age and was known as a state during the Zhou Dynasty from 770 BC to 221 BC. It was ruled by the Manchu people since the 16th century. Only in 1970 did it become a district under the direct administration of Heilongjiang Province.
Its highest peaks are Ôkôldûi at 1,530 meters in the north and Termo at 1,725 meters in the south. With 1.24 billion cubic meters of timber reserves, the Great Xingan Mountains are one of China's most important forestry areas. The mountain taiga, which dominates the northern part of the Great Xingan, is home to brown bears and lynxes, elk, sika deer, reindeer, Siberian weasel, and sable, as well as snow hares, hazel grouse, and black grouse. The very rare scaly-sided merganser also nests here.
