海林横道东北虎林园

we set out to go to the Tiger Park, but the local friends changed the plan due to the weather and we headed up to Tiger mountain instead ..... a lovely wilderness area with fast running streams and interesting scenery for photography. On the way back we lunched in Hengdaohezi the nearby town and visited the new (almost completed) artists retreat. on old Russian style building fitted out to provide accommodation for visiting painter or writers. It is in a street where local artists have copied the paintings onto the wall that lines the street........ very impressive. Architecturally, the town is a wonderful mixture of both Russian and Chinese houses, built to withstand the harsh winters of the region. Early autumn is a good time to visit because of the color, but I am sure anytime would be god in the right clothes. Found no-one who spoke english, but you can still get your message across to the happy and contented locals

We went first thing in the morning (8:30) which was a good plan since animals are more active in the morning.There was a short walk to the animals which include the Siberian tigers both standard, black and white, lions, liger, bears, deer and monkeys.The "show" is one with the usual tigers, monkeys, horse and black bears, but we skipped this. Instead, we wandered into the actual tiger areas.The areas are ok, however they need help from the government to maintain them better. We understand the government has decided recently to do just that. The park has a total of 389 tigers at the moment. They are gorgeous! You walk between their areas with only a small fence between you and them. We were eye to eye to some of them with only inches between. What an experience!We could write volumes here - some good, some not so good.Experience it for yourself!