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General
Introduction
Vast,
fertile, charming, and with a topography that
slants downward from northeast to southwest,
the 1.183 million-square-km northern Chinese
border region of Inner Mongolia is home to 49
ethnic peoples with a total population of 23
million (including 3.7 million Mongols and 800,000
minority peoples). Under its jurisdiction are
7 banners and 5 cities. Huhhot is the capital
city, and the region is bounded for 4,221km
by Russia and the Mongolia People's Republic
in the north. The region abounds in tourist
attractions. The vast meadowlands are made exactly
for the fun of horseback riding. Imbibing a
cup of wine or nursing a bowl of fresh milk
in a Mongolian yurt to the tuneos-folk songs
and the beats of dances is most exhilarating
experience. Hunters, rafters, anglers, bird-watchers,
virtually everyone can have a piece of action
in this land with 176,000 square km of forests,
nearly a thousand rivers, and lakes that are
too many to be counted. You may ride a camel
to experience the Humming Sand Bay. Winter is
the season for ice-and-snow tours or recuperating
by soaking your bodies in so many hot springs.
Hohhot alone has so many attractions to offer:
Five-pagoda Temple, Greater and Lesser Temples,
Xiret Temple, Tomb of Zhaojun, just to name
a few. At the turn of the century, local authorities
are going all out to improve their tourist facilities,
and local star-rated hotels and travel services
do all they can to make you feel comfortable,
with satisfaction guaranteed. The great steppes
of Inner Mongolia greet every guest with a warm
heart.
Climate
Inner Mongolia, with a temperate continental
monsoonal climate, has a cold, long winter with
frequent blizzards and a warm, short summer.
Except for the relatively humid Greater Hinggan
Mountain Area, the greater' part of Inner Mongolia
is, from west to east, arid, semi-arid and semi-humid.
Topography
Inner
Mongolia forms the greater part of the Inner
Mongolia Plateau, with the Greater Hinggan and
Yinshan ranges stretching from northeast to
southwest. It may be divided into six zones
according to its terrain. 1) The northeastern
part is made up of the Greater Hinggan range,
with an elevation of 1,000-2,000 meters and
dense forests. 2) The Hulunboir Plateau west
of the Greater Hinggan range, about 1,000 meters
above sea level, has vast areas of grassland
well suited for grazing. 3) The Northern Inner
Mongolia Plateau, also 1,000 meters above sea
level, comprises vast excellent natural pasturelands.
There are many deserts on the plateau especially
in its west. 4) The Songliao Plain east of the
Greater Hinggan range adjoins the Northeast
plain. 5) The Hetao Plain, known as the "granary
along the Great Wall", between the Yinshan
Mountains and the Huangbe River is crisscrossed
with streams and fields. 6) The Ordos Plateau
stands south of the Huanghe at a height of 1,200
meters. Here there are the Hobq and Muus deserts
and numerous salt and alkali lakes.
SCENES
& SIGHTS
Hohhot
Hohhot
(meaning "green city") is capital
of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Hohhot
Airport, 18km from downtown, operates regular
flights to and from Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai,
Shenzhen Wuhan and Shijiazhuang. The local railway
station runs fast through trains to many major
cities in China and international trains bound
for Moscow and Ulan Bator.
Dazhao
Lamasery
The
big temple, known as 1h Ju Zhao in Mongolian,
was first built in 1579, or 7th year of Wanli
reign of the Ming, and is the top ranking and
most influential of all the 15 lamaseries in
Hohhot.
The
Great Mosque
Built
in 1693 (32nd year of the Kangxi Reign of the
Qing), the mosque is Hohhot's oldest and largest
Moslem establishment, which features a typical
Arabian dome and elaborate carvings. During
Ramandan (fasting month). Local Muslims are
allowed to mount the building to marvel at the
moon.
Five-Pagoda
Temple
Also
known as Sarira Pagoda of Diamond Throne, Five-Pagoda
Temple was built in 1732, the 10th year of Yongzheng
Reign of the Qing, a 16-metre-high structure
consisting of five tiny pagodas that are elevated
atop a Diamond Throne. It is also known as "Thousand
Buddha Pagoda" for the 1,560 relief sculptures
of Buddhas carved into the pagoda walls.
Tomb
of Princess Zhaojun
The
tumulus buried with the remains of Princess
Zhaojun takes the shape of a 33-metre-high earth
mound. Zhaojun, a Western Han stunning beauty,
was married voluntarily to a Xiongnu chieftain
to foster fraternity between the Hans and the
nomads and win peace for northern borders. Her
moving deeds have attracted many tourists to
her tomb, 9 km from downtown Hohhot.
Inner
Mongolia Museum
The
Museum of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region,
covering a total floor space of 5,000 square
meters in downtown Hohhot, features four galleries
on nature and history in the region, and development
of local civilization.
Baotou:Baotou
is a major industrial and tourist city in eastern
Inner Mongolia.
Bod
Ger (Wudang) Lamasery
The
Bad Ger Lamasery is the largest and best-preserved
Tibetan-style lamasery in the entire autonomous
region. Built during the Kangxi reign of the
Qing, it is patterned after the Tashilhunpo
Monastery of Tibet, consisting of six main halls,
three Living Buddha mansions, a memorial hall
and 2,500 rooms.
Mausoleum
of Genghis Khan
The
mausoleum of Genghis Khan (1162-1227), a pre-eminent
12th-century Mongolian monarch, is found in
Ejan Horo Banner. The coffins containing the
remains of the Khan and his wife are enshrined
in the bedroom palace behind the memorial hall
in the center of three interconnected halls
in the design of Mongolian yurts. The entire
complex is splendidly ornamented and forever
enshrouded in the smoke of burning incense sticks
offered by pilgrims from around the world. Four
grand sacrificial ceremonies are held there
every year.
Resonant
Sand Bay
The
Resonant Sand Bay 45km from Baotou emits a sound
like the purring of a car or an aircraft engine
whenever someone is sliding down the top of
its 90-metre-high slope with a 45-degree gradient.
Visitors may also go horseback or camelback
riding or enjoy local folk singing and dancing.
Scenic
Grasslands
Xilamuren
and gegentala, 87km and 145km north of Hohhot
respectively, are two major idyllic pasturelands
in Inner Mongolia. Similar grasslands are also
available in the suburbs of Baotou, Erenhot,
Ulanhot, and Hailar, where visitors may go in
for horseback or camelback riding, attend folk
singing and dancing, and taste roast whole lamb.
Desert
Exploration
Kubuqi,
Badain Jaran, Tenggeli, Ulanbuh and Maowusu
are famous deserts of Inner Mongolia, whose
landscape is mystified by a combination of sand
dunes, basins, lake, rolling country, and flatlands,
a landscape suitable for desert expeditions.
Nadam
Festival
Wrestling,
horse racing and archery are the three traditional
items for Nadam (meaning entertainment or frolicking)
the foremost traditional festival for Mongol
nomads taking place in July or August. The festival
today also includes equestrian polo, horsemanship,
track-and-field events, and folk singing and
dancing.
Mongolian Folklore Tour
The
Mongols are brave and industrious and hospitable.
Visitors to a local family are invariably treated
to bowls of buttered tea and other dairy products.
They live in yurts, a kind or round enclosure
with a skylight opened into its domed top. They
use a kind of cart fashioned out of birch and
elm wood; each weighs 50kg and is enough for
a load of several hundred kg. Traditional festivals
include "Lesser New Year" (23rd of
12th lunar month), when sacrifices are offered
to God of Fire, and "Greater New Year"
(Spring Festival), when each family gets together
for dinner and pays homage to ancestors.
Souvenirs
There
is a dazzling line of famous and special products
in Inner Mongolia. Among local delicacies are
ox penises, hedgehog hydnum, flagella form nostoc,
and fern. Famous spirits include "Ningcheng
Laojiao", "Chifeng Chenqu", "Mongolian
King", "Wanshan Likou", and "Hongmao".
Precious traditional Chinese medicinal herbs,
such as membranous milk vetch, large-flowered
skullcap, herbaceous peony, and Chinese ephedra,
are produced in massive quantities in the region.
Local arts and crafts include Mongolian knives,
silver bowls, multihued Balin stone, tapestries,
sheep fur cushions, and cashmere sweaters produced
in the Erdos Grassland.
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