Special supplement: Environmental protection crucial to city of Baishan

The city of Baishan nestled in the Changbai Mountains is strengthening efforts to transform the tourism resort famed in China into one of the best-preserved forest ecosystem zones in the world.

The mountains were included in the UNESCO's International Man and Biosphere Reserve Network as early as 1980.

A cradle of the Manchu people, activities in Changbai Mountains were restricted by Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in 1677. It was a forbidden land for more than 200 years, leaving a well-preserved forest ecosystem.