The Greater Khingan Range or Da Hinggan Range (; IPA: ) is a volcanic mountain range in the Inner Mongolia region of Northeast China, and in easternmost part of Mongolia. It was originally called the Xianbei Mountains, which later became the name of the northern branch of the Donghu, the Xianbei.Hou Hanshu volume 90 "鮮卑者，亦東胡之支也，別依鮮卑山，故因號焉" "the Xianbei people branched off from the so-called 'Eastern Hu' and came to settle around Mt. Xianbei after which name they were designated" translated by Toh (2005)Weishu volume 1
Geography The range extends from north to south. It is the watershed between the Nen and Songhua river systems to the east, and the Amur and its tributaries to the northwest. Cassiterite, a tin ore mined in the range was transported over 1,500 km to the south during the Middle Shang period for bronze production .
Population Its slopes are a relatively rich grazing area. The Khitan people lived on the eastern slopes before establishing the Liao dynasty in the tenth century. Oroqen, a Tungusic people, live along the Greater and Lesser Khingan range in northeastern China and belong to the oldest autochthonous populations of the region. On the western slopes lived the nomadic people, who raised sheep and camels and used the Mongolian Plateau for their pastoralist economy.
In fiction The Greater Khingan Range is a key setting in the science fiction novel The Three-Body Problem by Chinese author Liu Cixin.
See also Daxing'anling Prefecture Lesser Khingan Xing'an Da Hinggan-Dzhagdy Mountains conifer forests 1987 Black Dragon fire, wildfire in China
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