Wudalianchi

Lying to the northwest of Dedu County in Heilongjiang Province, Wudalianchi Lake, formed by a string of five smaller lakes, can be reached from Harbin by train to Dedu followed by a one-hour bus ride. The scenery here is spectacular, with grotesquely shaped peaks, rocks, and caves and the sites of a dozen shield-shaped and fourteen cone –shaped volcanoes. The area is a “volcanic museum” which also attracts scientists and researched as well as tourists. The youngest but largest of the volcanoes are Mount Laohei and Mount Huoshao, which last erupted 260 years ago. Mount Laohei’s slopes are covered with cinder and are very steep. Its funnel – shaped crater is a hundred meters deep. When it erupted last, the molten lava pouring down from the crater blocked a river and created five dammed lakes. Numbers from one to five, giving them in Chinese the name “Wudalianchi”, identifies them. Area code: 456