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image of Great Wallimage of Great Wall

The 万里长城Great Wall from the shining 渤海Bohai sea to the Gobi desert west — 山海关Shanhaiguan (Shanhai Pass) to 嘉峪关Jiayuguan (Jiayu Pass)

I have always wanted to visit the wide northern plains, and the

希拉穆仁草原Xilamuren Grassland

is the nearest one on my itinerary. And for this reason I took the bus to 呼和浩特市Huhehaote (Hohhot) city, the provincial capital of 内蒙古Neimenggu (Inner Mongolia). The grassland is about 80 kilometers or so from the city center, but the route goes through so many rocky mountains that it feels like twice the distance. The bus ride took about 2 hours: the first hour went through mostly large rocky mountains; the next hour we entered wonderland - an endless vista of greens and reds with low rolling hills. Once in the grassland, the bus will normally stop at the tourist gers area, but the administrative town, 召河镇Zhaohe, is twice an arrow shot away. As always I got to my destination late. I rented one of the hundred gers here, and without further fuss I went straight to the horses. There were a few families owning horses here, and their horses were simply tied to poles. Here in the grassland there was really nothing to do but to ride horses. So I hopped on one short stocky Mongolian horse for 2 hours. The Mongolian owner taught me a few tricks on how to ride his horses, and in half an hour I was galloping with him. He told me of dried-up lake about 40 minutes of horse ride away and we rode there. The immense grassland was beautiful, and the sky was so low that I felt the clouds brushing on my hair. Once we got to the lake area, we climbed a fence and walked on its grassy lake bed. In the distance was a few mobile gers and some horses, a few of these loose horses were grazing on the lake bed.

Later at night, I walked to the small town, but there was not much to do there. I soon returned to the gers to have dinner. The famous dish here was boiled lamb steak, so I tried it. I had the whole ger to myself while I eat, and as I stared at the curtained doorway, I really wished that the next ger's hired musician and dancer were playing in my ger instead.

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image of Tulufan's Emin Minaretimage of the ruins in Tulufan's Gaochang Ruins

See 吐鲁番Tulufan's well-known attractions -- 苏公塔Sugonta (Emin Minaret), 高昌城Gaochang Ruins, and 火焰山Huoyan Shan (Flaming Mountains).

image of people on a boat in the Three Gorges area of the Changjiang river area

See the 三峡Three Gorges of the 长江Changjiang (Yangzi) River between 重庆市Chongqing city and 宜昌Yichang.

希拉穆仁草原Xilamuren Grassland

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     希拉穆仁草原 Xilamuren Grassland
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     希拉穆仁草原 Xilamuren Grassland
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     希拉穆仁草原 Xilamuren Grassland
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     希拉穆仁草原 Xilamuren Grassland
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     希拉穆仁草原 Xilamuren Grassland
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     希拉穆仁草原 Xilamuren Grassland
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     希拉穆仁草原 Xilamuren Grassland
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     希拉穆仁草原 Xilamuren Grassland
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     希拉穆仁草原 Xilamuren Grassland
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     希拉穆仁草原 Xilamuren Grassland
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     希拉穆仁草原 Xilamuren Grassland
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     希拉穆仁草原 Xilamuren Grassland
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portrait of a Uygur girl

Travelogues and travel notes

Travel Information

Getting There:

At the time I was at 包头市东河区Baotou city's Donghe district in its south. There I found out two ways to get to 希拉穆仁草原Xilamuren Grassland. The easiest way is to leave from 呼和浩特市Huhehaote (Hohhot) city, the provincial capital of 内蒙古Neimenggu (Inner Mongolia). The ride(Y30) from Donghe's 长途汽车站long distance bus station, located across from the 东站East Railway Station, to Huhehaote is about 2 hours. Huhehaote is commonly called 呼市Hushi (Hu city) for short, and the grassland is located in here. From Hushi's bus station get the ticket(Y19) to 召河镇Zhaohe, the administrative town within the grassland. It is less than 100 kilometers from the city center, but the ride will take about 3 hours due to the numerous mountains it needs to pass through. You will not regret the long ride because the landscape along the way is stunning. If you are in Baotou, there is another way to get to Xilamuren: From the long distance bus station of its southern district, Donghe, get the ticket(Y10, 1.75 hr) to 固阳县Guyang county. Then transfer to another bus to 白灵庙县Bailingmiao county. At this county's station, there is a bus to the grassland. The entire route probably takes 6 hours, which is about 2 hours longer than going first to Hushi, then to the Inner Mongolian plains. If you have plans to visit sites along this route, such as the 秦长城Qin Great Wall, it can be interesting. I got to Xilamuren using the first route, leaving from Hushi, but I knew that the second route is possible because a Bailingmiao bus stopped at my ger, and at the Guyang bus station, I had noted down some of the destinations, one of which is Bailingmiao.

Entrance Ticket:

None that I know of. (summer 2006).

Accomodations:

There are many tourist gers or yurts on the grassland that can be rented, and some of these are large enough to accomodate a large family or group. The gers here are not the traditional mobile yurts; the lower half of the struction are concrete, and its frames are metal rods. Nonetheless, you won't mistaken it for anything other than a ger. Prices go from Y25 and up per person depending on the season and the number of tenants. (summer 2006) I had not checked whether the town itself has hotels, but who wants to come all the way here and stay in the town. The town is about a 15 - 20 minutes walk from the gers.

Food:

Boiled lamp steaks with bread. About Y40 per 斤jin (half a kilogram). The meat will be brought to your ger. While I was there, I saw a pair of Mongolian musician and dancer going around the gers offering their skills. So you may enjoy Mongolian music while you eat.

Miscellaneous:

Each ger gets a bucket of water for whatever use you like. There are no toilets inside the gers, of course; but lucky for the less wild folks, there is a bathroom in the shape of a ger. The fee is Y1 per use. Also note: the northern nights are chilly, so bring a jacket.