Píngdìsōnglín

The name Pingdi Songlin means a pine forest on level ground, a striking feature of the grassland country north of the Great Wall. Historical accounts describe such forests in the upper reaches of the Xar Moron and near the Yuan summer capital of Shangdu. The Khitan emperors visited a region called Pingdi Songlin, and stretches of pine woodland remained in the area into the Qing period. Trees on the open plain gave this landscape a distinctive character.