Arshihaty Stone Forest

The Arshihaty Stone Forest, part of the Hexigten UNESCO Global Geopark, is a field of granite pillars, columns, and eroded stalagmites rising from open steppe about 200 kilometres northwest of Chifeng city. The formations reach up to three metres high in places and extend across several square kilometres, creating an alien landscape that is dramatically different from the forest and grassland surroundings. On a clear day, the columns catch morning light in ways that make photography almost too easy.

Visiting requires either renting a private car in Chifeng or joining one of the organised tours that run from city guesthouses in summer. The road from Chifeng passes through the banner towns of Keqi and Hexigten, with good views of the steppe grasslands along the way. The site itself has a modest entrance fee and a few basic food stalls at the car park. Aim to arrive early to beat the coach groups from Shenyang and Beijing that arrive mid-morning in July and August.

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A story
The granite pillars at Arshihaty are not volcanic — they formed underground as molten rock cooled slowly into jointed blocks, then were gradually exposed by erosion over tens of millions of years. The precise shapes are the work of a much shorter process: frost cracking during the Ice Ages repeatedly split the joints, while the permafrost cycles of the Pleistocene pushed the columns upward. The result is a landscape that looks sculpted by a deliberate hand but is entirely the product of physics.

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