Why Paektu Mountain is famous
Paektu Mountain is the highest point of North Korea, of the Korean Peninsula and of Northeast China, and the culmination of the Changbai Mountains and of the Baekdu-daegan, the mountain spine that Koreans see as running the length of the peninsula. Figures for its height differ: Korean, Western and most encyclopaedic sources give 2,744 m for Janggun Peak, Chinese sources 2,750 m; some references give a range of 2,744–2,750 m. Janggun Peak, "General Peak", lies on the North Korean side; the highest point on the Chinese side of the rim is Baiyun Peak, 2,691 m.
From the surrounding basalt plateau the slopes rise gently to about 1,800 m and then more steeply to a caldera about 5 km wide and 850 m deep, whose rim carries sixteen peaks above 2,500 m. The summit area is under snow for about eight months a year, which explains all three names: Korean Paektusan means "white-head mountain", Chinese Changbai Shan "ever-white mountain", and the Manchu Golmin Šanggiyan Alin "long white mountain". Three rivers rise here: the Songhua flows north out of the crater, while the Yalu and the Tumen, which form the border between North Korea and China, begin on the southern and eastern slopes.
Heaven Lake
The caldera holds Heaven Lake (Chonji in Korean, Tianchi in Chinese), split between the two countries. Its surface lies at 2,189 m and covers about 9.8 km²; the lake measures roughly 4.4–4.9 km from north to south and 3.4 km from east to west and holds around two billion cubic metres of water. Average depth is about 204–213 m and maximum depth 373–384 m depending on the survey, which makes it the deepest lake in China. It is usually frozen from mid-October to mid-June, with ice up to about a metre thick, and even in summer the water stays at only 8–10 °C. The lake drains north through a gap in the rim into a stream that drops over the 68 m Changbai Waterfall, the source of the Erdaobai River and of the Songhua.
The lake had no fish of its own; the char found there today were stocked. A "Tianchi lake monster" is a recurring Chinese legend; in 2007 a local TV official filmed what he called six seal-like creatures. In 2001 a Chinese professor, Zhang Jianji, swam across the lake.
A volcano that is still alive
The caldera was blown out in late 946 AD by the "Millennium" or Tianchi eruption, rated VEI 6 or even 7 and ranked with Tambora in 1815 and Taupō in about 230 AD among the largest eruptions of the last 5,000 years. Its two phases sent eruption columns 30–40 km high and pyroclastic flows up to 50 km from the vent; ash covered about 1.5 million km² of the Sea of Japan and northern Japan. The date was fixed precisely by a larch killed in the eruption: its trunk shows 172 rings after the carbon-14 spike of 774 AD. Historical chronicles fit: in Nara, Japan, "white ash fell gently like snow" on the evening of 3 November 946, and at Kaesong, then the Korean capital about 450 km away, "heaven's drums" were heard and the frightened king declared an amnesty.
Smaller eruptions followed in 1668, 1702 and 1903. Between 2002 and 2005 the volcano showed clear unrest. From June 2002 Chinese monitors recorded swarms of small volcanic earthquakes; one in November 2002 lasted more than ten days, the strongest shocks reached magnitude 3.0 in August and October 2003, and on 25 November 2003 more than 160 microquakes were counted in a single day. The ground near the lake rose by several centimetres, hot-spring temperatures climbed as high as 83 °C, and volcanic gas seeping through cracks killed some trees. In 2011 North and South Korean experts met to discuss the risk, and from 2016 North Korea invited British and American volcanologists to study the mountain with its own scientists. The central area continues to rise by about 3 mm a year.
Getting there from China
Most Chinese, South Korean, Russian and other foreign visitors come from the Chinese side, in Jilin province, where the mountain is protected by the Changbaishan National Nature Reserve. Founded in 1960 and covering about 1,960 km², it joined UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere network around 1980, is rated a top-category AAAAA tourist area and since 2024 has been a UNESCO Global Geopark.
- By air: Changbaishan Airport (opened 2008) lies about 15 km from the West scenic area, 120 km from the North and 135 km from the South.
- By rail: since December 2021 high-speed trains run on the 113 km Dunhua–Baihe line to Changbaishan station near the town of Erdaobaihe, the base for the North scenic area, about 20 km from its gate.
- The West area is approached from the town of Songjianghe; the North and West gates are about 100 km apart by road.
The three scenic areas on the Chinese side
Private cars are not allowed inside: visitors buy a ticket at the gate and continue on park shuttle buses, with separate fees for the in-park transport. As of 2026 the entrance ticket costs 105 yuan, is valid for one entry on the booked day only, and each of the three areas has to be reserved and paid separately through the official "Changbaishan" mini-program; the five-day combined North–West ticket was abolished on 1 July 2023.
- North scenic area: the classic side. Shuttles run from the gate past hot springs, where vendors boil eggs in the spring water, to the 68 m Changbai Waterfall and the Green Deep Pool. A separate minibus covers the last 16 km to just below the rim, from where a short walk leads to the viewpoint over the lake. The old walking path from the waterfall up to the lake is closed.
- West scenic area: buses climb about 40 km through forest and alpine meadows; the final ascent is a stairway of 1,442 steps over roughly 900 m to the rim, with sedan chairs available for older visitors. At the top the lake opens in a wide panorama, and a border marker lets visitors stand with one foot in China and one in North Korea. The other highlight of this side is the Jinjiang Grand Canyon.
- South scenic area: right next to the North Korean border, with gentler, less windy terrain around the lake, alpine flower meadows, the Yalu River Grand Canyon and a viewing platform built on the Chinese side.
Visiting from North Korea
On the North Korean side, in Ryanggang province, tour groups traditionally flew from Pyongyang to the airport of Samjiyon, a town rebuilt as a "modern city" in 2019 with five new hotels opened in December 2025. Itineraries include the crater rim, where a funicular operates (new cars entered service in 2020), the Paektu Spa spring, Pegae Hill and the so-called secret camps of the anti-Japanese guerrillas. Jong-il Peak is a separate rock of 1,798 m south-east of Paektu, renamed in 1988 because official history places Kim Jong-il's birth at a guerrilla camp at its foot.
Independent travel is impossible: every visit is a guided tour arranged through an approved agency. North Korea closed its borders to tourists on 22 January 2020; a brief reopening to foreign tourists in February 2025, with Pyongyang still off limits, ended in March. Samjiyon was announced as open to international tourists from December 2024, but as of autumn 2026 tours to North Korea are offered essentially only to Russian citizens, and the United States has extended its ban on its citizens travelling there every year since 2017. Check the current rules with a specialist operator.
Hiking and climbing
Paektu Mountain is not a climbing objective in the usual sense. On the Chinese side the rim viewpoints are reached by bus and stairs, the summit itself lies in North Korea, and walking off the official routes inside the reserve requires a local guide. The border along the rim is not always clearly marked, and foreigners have been detained by North Korean border guards; stay on marked paths and never cross barriers. Camping is forbidden in the park. Lower down there are short walks, such as from the Small Sky Pond to the waterfall (about 1.5 hours).
When to go and weather
The weather is harsh and erratic. The mean annual temperature on the summit is around −5 to −8 °C, with about +10 °C in July and −24 °C in January; the record low is −51 °C (2 January 1997). Average wind speed is about 42 km/h, and the rim is often in cloud: on many summer days the lake stays hidden in fog, and conditions can change within minutes. The mountain is one of the wettest places in Northeast China, with most precipitation in summer.
The usual season for the crater viewpoints is from June to early October, when the roads to the rim are clear; snow can linger on the rim into June, and from October to May access is difficult. Early September is considered one of the best times, though rooms are then hard to find, and Chinese holiday weeks bring large crowds. In winter the West area has a natural-snow ski park, open since 2007.
Water
Drinks and snacks are sold at the gates and main shuttle stops in high season, at high prices; outside the peak months shops may be closed, so bring water and food for the day. Do not drink lake or stream water untreated, and do not drink from the hot springs. Mineral water bottled from springs around the mountain is sold all over China, and on the North Korean side Paektu Spa water is a national brand.
Mobile coverage and emergencies
On the Chinese side tickets are booked through a smartphone mini-program, so set up a Chinese-capable phone, internet access and mobile payment (WeChat Pay or Alipay) before arriving. Do not rely on a signal on the rim in fog and wind, and agree a meeting point with your group. Emergency numbers in China: 110 police, 120 ambulance, 119 fire; 112 and 911 do not work. The official scenic area hotline is 400-000-6789.
In North Korea foreign SIM cards do not work and local tourist SIM cards allow international calls only; in practice emergencies are handled through your guides and tour operator (official numbers: 119 from a landline, 112 from a mobile).
Dangers and safety
The main risks are the weather and the border. Wind and cold on the rim catch out visitors who arrive from a warm valley in summer clothes; bring a warm, windproof layer even in July. The altitude is moderate, but the 1,442 steps on the West slope are hard work for older visitors and people with heart problems, who can hire sedan chairs. Stay strictly on marked paths near the border. The volcano is monitored by Chinese and North Korean scientists.
History, names and the border
The mountain first appears in the ancient Chinese Classic of Mountains and Seas as Buxian Shan. The name Changbai Shan dates from the Liao and Jin dynasties; the Jin emperors gave the mountain god imperial titles in 1172 and 1193 and built a temple on the northern side. The Korean name Baekdusan is first recorded in 991 in the Goryeo chronicles. The Qing dynasty claimed that its ancestor was conceived near the mountain, and its emperors made pilgrimages to Jilin to honour it.
In 1712 Qing and Korean officials set up a boundary stele near the watershed south of the lake; its wording has fuelled disputes ever since. In 1962 China and North Korea signed a border treaty in Pyongyang, kept secret for decades and supplemented in 1964, which gave North Korea about 54.5% of Heaven Lake and nine of the sixteen rim peaks, including the summit. South Korea and Taiwan do not recognise it, and South Korean maps show the whole summit area as Korean. The mountain's 20th-century myth is North Korean: Kim Il-sung's guerrillas fought the Japanese from its forests, and official biographies say Kim Jong-il was born at a secret camp on Paektu in 1942, although records outside North Korea indicate he was born in the Soviet Union.
Interesting facts
- In 1992 a slogan 216 m wide was carved on the rim peak Hyangdo-bong: "Paektusan, sacred mountain of the revolution. Kim Jong-il, 16 February 1992".
- On 20 September 2018 Kim Jong-un and South Korean president Moon Jae-in stood together on Paektu during an inter-Korean summit; Moon filled a bottle with lake water to take home to the South.
- Paektu has been on North Korea's state emblem since 1993; its name is used for rockets, computers and a pistol.
FAQ
How high is Paektu Mountain? Usually 2,744 m at Janggun Peak, the summit on the North Korean side; Chinese sources give 2,750 m. Heaven Lake lies at 2,189 m.
Can you climb Paektu Mountain? Not as a mountaineering ascent. From China, buses and a 1,442-step stairway (West area) or a minibus and short walk (North area) bring visitors to the crater rim; the summit itself is in North Korea and is visited only on organised North Korean tours.
How long does a visit take? Plan a full day per scenic area on the Chinese side: about an hour by shuttle from the gate to the rim, an hour or so at the top, and time for the waterfall or canyon. Seeing both the North and West areas takes at least two days, since each needs its own ticket and the gates are 100 km apart.
How difficult is it? Easy in terms of terrain; the only effort is the stairway up to the rim on the West slope. Cold, wind and fog are the real challenge.
How much does it cost? As of 2026 the entrance ticket is 105 yuan per scenic area per day, booked through the official "Changbaishan" mini-program, plus fees for the park shuttles.
Is there water on the way? Drinks are sold at the gates and main shuttle stops in summer; carry your own water and food for the day.
Is there mobile coverage? Plan for a working Chinese mobile connection, since tickets and payments are by smartphone, but do not count on it in fog on the rim. In China dial 110 (police), 120 (ambulance) or 119 (fire).
When is the best time to visit? From late June to early October, when the roads to the rim are open; early September is considered one of the best times. The lake is frozen until mid-June.
Can foreigners visit from North Korea? As of autumn 2026 North Korean tours are open essentially only to Russian citizens; Western tourists have had no regular access since 2020.