City guide · Inner Mongolia

Hulunbuir travel guide: the grassland loop, the Russian villages and the road to Manzhouli

China's finest grassland — a 263,000 km² sweep of steppe, birch forest and border river, best driven with the windows down.

Known forGrassland · Erguna River · Russian villages · Manzhouli
Typical spend¥2,000–3,000 for nine days
Ideal length7–9 days
PaceRoad trip — long driving days between stops

Plan this trip Hulunbuir tours

Reviewed by our Beijing team Updated 2026-10-10

The short version

Hulunbuir is the great grassland of Inner Mongolia, roughly the size of the UK, and the trip is a driving loop rather than a single destination: in through the hub of Hailar (HLD), out across the Mergele River, the Erguna wetlands, the Russian villages of Enhe and Shiwei, and west to the border at Manzhouli. Seven to nine days is the right length; five is a rushed minimum, and a car with a driver (¥300–500 a day) beats waiting for buses.

Fly into Hailar (HLD) — the region's transport hub; Manzhouli has its own airport west.
The classic loop is Hailar–Erguna–Enhe–Shiwei–Linjiang–Moerdaoga–Qian'an–Hailar, about 1,500 km.
Late June to August is green and warm; late September is the photographers' month.
Stay at least one night in a Russian village — Shiwei or Enhe — for the banya and blueberry-jam breakfasts.
Bring cash: outside Hailar, Manzhouli and Erguna there are no ATMs and cards are useless.

City guide

First impressions

Photographs from the coast, and what other travellers wrote afterwards.

The Mergele River looping across the steppe

Log houses and flower gardens in a Russian village on the Erguna

The border at Manzhouli — onion domes and the great gate

You only understand what grassland is once you come to Hulunbuir. Cattle graze, clouds drift, and the river bends without hurrying. All you have to do is ride a horse and take in the quiet.
Traveller note — 'Hulunbuir, Free Travel'

We drove more than an hour without seeing anyone — only endless grassland. Cows and sheep wander onto the road; do not honk and scare them, just slow down and wait.
Traveller note — 'Life Like Summer Flowers'

Hulunbuir is not a town you visit, it is a territory you drive across. Named after Hulun Lake and Bell Lake, it is about the size of the United Kingdom and home to 32 ethnic groups, and its grass is why people call it the best grazing land in China. Stand in the middle of it and there is no horizon line between plain and sky.

The rivers make the scenery. The Mergele wanders across the steppe in slow ox-bows, and the Erguna, which forms the border with Russia, cuts through birch forest and marsh. Nomad history runs deep here — this was the cradle of the Xiongnu and the Xianbei and later the Mongol nation that Genghis Khan unified — and Mongolian, Daur, Ewenki, Oroqen and Russian communities still live across it.

Along the Erguna there is a run of villages that feel more Siberia than China: Enhe and Shiwei with their log cabins and flower gardens, Linjiang strung out along the river, and Qian'an, a hamlet of a few families at the end of the road that people call 'the Mohe of the north'. Not far west, Manzhouli is a border boom town of onion domes and a huge ceremonial gate.

Everything here is about the drive. The grass is the attraction, the sky is the attraction, and the towns are mostly places to eat and sleep between long, glorious stretches of nothing. Go with a driver who knows where the light falls at the right hour, and accept that the best moments happen when you pull over for no reason at all.

Hulunbuir

Don't leave without

Seven things that are worth rearranging a day for.

Watch the ox-bows of the Mergele River catch the light at dusk
Spend a night in a Russian village — logs, blueberry jam, banya and fresh-baked bread
Eat hand-grabbed mutton the proper way, with a knife and no fork
Stand at the Fifth-Generation Gate on the Russian border at Manzhouli
Sleep in a yurt on the open grassland, with nothing between you and the sky
Ride a horse across the steppe — but listen to the handler before you get on

Highlights

What not to miss in Hulunbuir

The Mergele River

The most photographed river on the grassland, curving through the steppe in long ox-bows near Chen Barag Banner. Go for the sweep of the bends at dusk, when the light catches the water.

Erguna and the Genhe wetland

The Mongol homeland and the gateway to the north loop. The Genhe wetland on the edge of town, billed as Asia's largest, is haunting at dawn and rich with colour at sunset.

The Russian villages

Shiwei and Enhe are Russian ethnic townships on the Erguna: log houses, flower gardens, blueberry-jam breakfasts and real Russian banya. Shiwei has the China-Russia Friendship Bridge.

Qian'an, at the end of the road

A hamlet of a few families beside a frontier army camp, three sides mountains and one side water. No shops, no traffic, and some of the best night skies in the region.

Manzhouli and the border

China's largest land port: the Fifth-Generation Gate, the China-Russia trade zone and Matryoshka Square. The dolls are kitsch and enormous, and the border really is worth the drive west.

The forests of Moerdaoga

Huge stands of pine and birch where the old green-skin trains once threaded through. The forest park's White Deer Island is the headline, but the drive itself is the point.

Suggested itineraries

The nine-day loop, and a tight five

Almost everyone does this as a car loop out of Hailar. Distances are large; do not try to add side trips without adding days.

The north loop in nine days

9 days

The classic circuit — grassland, forest, Russian villages and the far north.

Day 1

Hailar

Settle in and get your bearings: the Xishan forest park and its Scots pines, the ethnic museum, and a first big Mongolian dinner. Buy anything you will need before heading out — supplies get thin beyond the city.

Stops: Xishan Forest ParkEthnic MuseumGenghis Khan Square
Day 2–3

Hailar to Erguna and Enhe

Drive out with a stop at the Mergele River, then on to Erguna (Labudalin) and the Genhe wetland. Next day, continue through birch forest and wildflowers to Enhe, a Russian village of log houses and gardens.

Stops: Mergele RiverErgunaGenhe wetlandEnhe
Day 4–5

Shiwei and Linjiang

Shiwei, the Russian ethnic township on the Erguna, is worth two nights: walk the riverbank, look across at Russia, eat blueberry jam and fresh bread. The 10 km trail to Linjiang runs through birch and open grass.

Stops: ShiweiErguna riverfrontLinjiang
Day 6–7

Moerdaoga and Qian'an

Push north through forest to Moerdaoga, then on the long empty road to Qian'an — a few families and a frontier camp at the very end of it. This is the quietest, most beautiful corner of the trip.

Stops: MoerdaogaQian'an
Day 8–9

Back to Hailar

Return south to Hailar for a last grassland evening and a farewell meal. If you have time, add two days west to Manzhouli and Hulun Lake.

Stops: Hailar

Five days, grassland only

5 days

For a shorter trip: the steppe, one Russian village and the Mergele, without the far north.

Day 1

Hailar

Arrive, sort out the car, and eat well.

Stops: Hailar
Day 2–3

Mergele and Erguna

The Mergele River bends, then Erguna and the Genhe wetland at dawn and dusk.

Stops: Mergele RiverErgunaGenhe wetland
Day 4

Enhe and Shiwei

A night in a Russian village — logs, banya, blueberry jam.

Stops: EnheShiwei
Day 5

Back to Hailar

Return through birch forest, with a last stop on the grassland.

Stops: Hailar

Sights

The places worth your time

There are almost no ticket gates in Hulunbuir — the landscape itself is the sight. Prices where they exist are per person.

Mongol homeland · Wetland

Erguna and the Genhe wetland

Erguna — locals still call it Labudalin — is the birthplace of the Mongol people and the natural gateway to the northern loop. On the edge of town, a short walk west of the bus station takes you up a low hill over the Genhe wetland, billed as the largest wetland in Asia: mist over the water at dawn, a mosaic of colour at sunset.

Ticket: Wetland viewing area small fee
Best time: Dawn and late afternoon
Where: Walk west from the Erguna bus station, 20–30 min
Time needed: Half a day

Tip Eat the local hand-grabbed mutton while you are here — a couple of Erguna restaurants are famous for it among locals.

Russian ethnic township · Border

Shiwei and the Russian villages

Shiwei, also called Jilalin, sits on the south bank of the Erguna opposite the Russian village of Olochi — the only Russian ethnic township in China, and one of the country's 'ten most charming towns'. Timber houses, flower gardens, swings in the yards, genuine Russian banya and food, and the China-Russia Friendship Bridge, the first permanent bridge over the border river.

Ticket: Free to walk; bridge viewing free
Where: On the Erguna, north-west of Erguna city
Stay: Family guesthouses, ¥40–50 a night with breakfast
Time needed: One to two nights

Tip Bring cash. There is no ATM in Shiwei, and cards are no use in the villages.

Steppe scenery · Sunset

The Mergele River

The river that bends across every Hulunbuir postcard, looping through the grassland near Chen Barag Banner. There is no single 'attraction' — you drive to a rise, get out, and watch the ox-bows unspool toward the horizon. Best in the hour before sunset, when the water turns the colour of the sky.

Ticket: Free
Best time: The hour before sunset
Where: Chen Barag Banner, near Hailar
Time needed: 1–2 hours

Tip A drone or a wide lens earns its keep here; from ground level the bends are easy to miss.

End of the road · Remotest village

Qian'an

Called 'the Mohe of the north', Qian'an sits three sides ringed by mountains with a river at its front, a few families and a frontier army camp for company. Under a government relocation programme most residents have left; what remains is profound quiet, and some of the darkest, clearest night skies anywhere in the region.

Ticket: Free
Getting there: No buses — car and driver only, 150 km from Moerdaoga
Stay: Basic farmhouse lodging; eat where you sleep
Time needed: One night, minimum

Tip There is no shop of any kind. Arrive with water, snacks and cash, and make peace with a simple night.

Border city · Land port

Manzhouli and the border

China's largest land port, on the Russian border, where freight transits and cultures mix. The Fifth-Generation Gate, 105 m wide — the broadest at any Chinese border crossing — is the symbol; the China-Russia mutual-trade zone and Matryoshka Square are the other draws. Kitsch, yes, but the scale of the border traffic is real.

Ticket: Gate and square ticketed separately
Trade zone hours: 09:00–14:00
Where: Far west of Hulunbuir, 2h by train from Hailar
Time needed: Two days

Tip Get your cash here if you are heading deeper west — this is the last place with banks before the emptier country.

Greater Khingan · Forest park

Moerdaoga and the forest

The southern edge of the Greater Khingan forest, where pine and birch close in and the old green-skin trains used to run. The national forest park's White Deer Island is the ticketed attraction, but the drive through the timber — especially in autumn colour — is the real point of coming this far.

Ticket: Forest park over ¥100
Where: North of Hailar, the transport hub for the far north
Getting there: Train from Hailar, or by car
Time needed: A day in transit

Tip Use Moerdaoga as your springboard to Qian'an; there is no bus on that last stretch, so arrange a car and driver.

Regional hub · City stop

Hailar

The regional capital and the place every trip starts and ends. The Xishan state forest park, walking distance from the railway station, is a gentle introduction to the grassland's Scots pines and small wildlife; the ethnic museum explains the peoples you will meet further out; the Yimin River threads through town.

Ticket: Xishan park ¥20
Xishan hours: 08:00–12:00, 14:30–17:30
Where: Hailar district, east-central Hulunbuir
Time needed: Half a day

Tip Do your banking, stocking-up and cash withdrawal in Hailar — the towns to the north and west get progressively harder for all three.

Eating

What Hulunbuir eats

This is mutton country, cooked simply and eaten with a knife. Portions are enormous — order less than you think you need.

Hand-grabbed mutton (shoubarou)

The grassland classic: boiled mutton eaten with the hands and a knife, not chopsticks. The lamb here is famously sweet and free of any strong smell, which is why the dish needs nothing but salt.

Roast whole lamb

The ceremonial dish, saved for festivals such as Nadam. A two-year-old lamb roasted whole, golden outside and tender within, brought to the table with a red ribbon on its neck before it is carved and shared.

Mutton hotpot (shuan yangrou)

Paper-thin slices of Hulunbuir lamb cooked in a clear broth and dipped in sauce — a pound of meat can be cut into hundreds of slices. Light, quick and the way to eat mutton on a cold day.

Mongolian milk tea (guocha)

Mongolian 'guocha' is tea with a whole meal in it: brick tea boiled for hours, cut with milk and salt, then stirred with butter, dried tofu, cheese, fried rice and dried beef. Thick, savoury and warming.

Russian bread and blueberry jam

In the border villages breakfast is a slice of dark Russian bread, home-made blueberry jam and a glass of milk still warm from the cow. The berries — locals call them dushi — grow wild across the region, which produces around 90% of China's crop.

White mushrooms and lake fish

Summer and autumn bring the prized white mushroom, cooked simply to keep its flavour, and Hulun Lake yields carp, whitefish and shrimp turned into a 120-dish 'whole-fish banquet'. Both are worth seeking out.

Where to eat

Restaurants worth the address

Prices are per person and portions are large. Phone numbers are local landlines; add +86 and drop the leading 0 from abroad.

Mongolian · Hand-grabbed mutton

Barag Flavour Restaurant

An Erguna institution for the local hand-grabbed mutton — the dish most often named when you ask where to eat in town. Big-portion, unfussy Mongolian cooking, busy with locals at meal times.

Order: Hand-grabbed mutton, Mongolian dishes
Where: Near the junction of Erguna Avenue and Yunshan Road
Phone: 0470-6822856

Erguna · Lamb specialist

Defu Whole-Lamb House

A local go-to on the Labudalin market street, doing lamb every way and a proper whole-lamb spread for groups. Reliable, generous and reasonably priced for what you get.

Order: Whole lamb, roast lamb chops, mutton soup
Where: 200 m west of the Labudalin market street, Erguna
Phone: 0470-6824339

Manzhouli · Whole-fish banquet

Dalai Lake Restaurant

Near Hulun Lake and named for it, this is where to try the 'whole-fish banquet' built on the lake's carp, whitefish and shrimp — more than a hundred fish dishes in the local repertoire. Fresh, varied and a change from all the mutton.

Order: Whole-fish banquet, lake shrimp, braised whitefish
Where: Manzhouli, near Dalai Lake
Note: Book for groups; portions are large

On the steppe · Yurt meal

Grassland yurt kitchens

Many herders and grassland camps serve meals in yurts — a whole-lamb table, milk tea and dairy by the fire — for guests staying overnight. It is the most atmospheric way to eat, and the price is negotiable if you are several people.

Order: Whole lamb, milk tea, dried curd
Where: Grassland camps and family yurts near Hailar and Erguna
Note: Confirm the price before the lamb goes on

Sleeping

Where to stay

Standards drop fast once you leave the cities — book ahead in July and August, when rooms are scarce and prices double.

Hailar · Guesthouse

Forest Outdoor Donkey Hostel

A family guesthouse in Hailar with a kitchen you can cook in and a washing machine, plus a cheap dorm option. Good value for a first and last night in the region, when you want a base before and after the loop.

Price: Dorm from ¥60 · double from ¥240
Where: Xinqu public-security compound, Hailar
Phone: 18847020099

Hailar · Mid-range

Hulunbuir Shenzhou Express Hotel

A clean, comfortable business hotel up in a high-rise residential block in Hailar — the sort of tidy, dependable mid-range room that is hard to find further out. Wi-Fi and hot water are reliable.

Price: Standard rooms from ¥180
Where: Hexi Guomao Garden, Hailar district
Phone: 0470-2215566

Hailar · Chain hotel

Ibis Hailar Shengli

A reliable international chain on the Yimin riverbank in the city centre, with the bridge and its night view a short walk away. The safest bet if you want a predictable, well-kept room in Hailar.

Price: Double rooms from ¥438
Where: 23 Shengli Street, Hailar district
Phone: 0470-8551888

Villages · ¥30–50 a night

Erguna & Shiwei family lodges

In Erguna, cheap guesthouses and hostels cluster near the bus station and along the wetland road — basic singles from ¥30. In Shiwei and Linjiang, Russian family lodges offer clean rooms at ¥40–50 a night with breakfast, and often a banya. Look at the room first.

Price: ¥30–50 a night in the villages
Where: Near the Erguna bus station; Shiwei and Linjiang villages
Note: Book ahead in the July–August peak

Getting around

Arriving, and moving about

Hailar is the hub for almost everything. Once past it, this is a car trip, not a public-transport trip.

By air

Hailar Dongshan Airport (HLD) is 5 km east of the city and the main gateway, connecting Beijing, Harbin, Shenyang, Shanghai, Guangzhou and more, plus Chita in Russia and Choibalsan and Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. Manzhouli, in the west, has a smaller airport too.

Airport: Hailar Dongshan (HLD)
To the centre: Airport bus ¥5, about 20 min · taxi about ¥30
Also useful: Manzhouli West airport, far west
Watch out: Flights are thin in winter — check schedules before planning

By rail

Hailar sits on the Binzhou railway, with trains from Beijing, Harbin, Hohhot, Baotou and Dalian; the Beijing–Manzhouli train also passes through. The region's forest lines are still served by slow old green-skin trains, which are cheap and wonderfully atmospheric.

Main station: Hailar (passenger), on Minzhu Street
Forest trains: Slow green-skin services, very cheap (Hailar–Yakeshi about ¥7)
To Manzhouli: About 2 hours by train, ¥14
Phone: 0470-2221322

Sleeper berths sell out on the Beijing and Harbin trains in summer — book as early as you can.

By bus

Long-distance buses link Hailar with Qiqihar, Ulanhot and Tongliao, and the Hailar passenger station runs daily services to Erguna, Manzhouli, Genhe, Yakeshi and Moerdaoga. Handy for a single hop, but the timetables rarely suit a sightseeing day.

Station: Hailar passenger station, Jiazinzi Road
To Erguna: Every 40 min, 06:30–17:30, ¥36, about 2h
Phone: 0470-8333719
Watch out: No bus on the Moerdaoga–Qian'an leg

Car and driver

The way nearly everyone travels here. A car with driver runs about ¥300–500 a day, covering the vehicle, fuel and the driver's own food and lodging; some routes are priced per trip instead. The drivers know where the light is good and where the sand roads run.

Daily rate: ¥300–500, everything included
Per trip: Hailar–Chen Barag for Nadam about ¥100; Manzhouli–Hulun Lake return about ¥200
Why: You can stop whenever the view is good
Note: Treat the driver as a guide, not a servant — it pays off

In town

Hailar has twelve bus routes, with lines 1 and 4 running as double-decker sightseeing buses, and cheap metered taxis. In the villages and out on the grassland there is effectively no local transport, so plan your day around your car.

Bus: ¥1 or ¥2, bring change; lines 1 and 4 are sightseeing
Taxi: ¥6 for the first 2 km, then ¥2 per km
Villages: No real local transport — use your car

Shopping

What to take home

Everything worth buying here is edible or small: beef, dairy, berries and a few crafts. Do your shopping in Hailar or Manzhouli.

Flavour beef jerky

The number-one purchase. Vacuum-packed beef jerky from the grassland travels well and makes an easy gift; buy it in the markets rather than the tourist shops, where you can compare vendors and prices.

Dried curd and dairy

With so many cattle and sheep, dried curd and milk products are the local speciality. You cannot carry the milk-tea pot home, but a packet of dried curd brings a bit of the grassland with it.

Blueberry juice and jam

The region produces around 90% of China's blueberries, and the juice — most famously from the Hailar brewery — is a genuine local product, additive-free and popular with anyone who likes tart fruit. The jam is the village breakfast staple.

Crafts and dolls

Beyond food: Mongolian knives with engraved, sometimes gem-set handles and sheaths, Inner Mongolian carpets woven from local wool, and the Russian matryoshka dolls of the border towns — small, light and easy to carry.

Practical

The numbers to save

Area code 0470. Banking is fine in the cities and effectively absent in the villages — plan around it.

Emergency (police / ambulance / fire)	110 · 120 · 119
Hulunbuir People's Hospital	20 Shengli Street, Hailar · 0470-3997143
Hailar District Hospital	Yiyuan Street, Hailar · 0470-8334370
Tourism hotline	0470-2835469 (regional)
Forest-fire permit	Free, in the spring and autumn fire seasons; self-drivers only. Apply at the forestry service or the Hailar admin hall south of the Yimin Bridge
Cash	Plenty of banks and ATMs in Hailar, Manzhouli and Erguna; none in Shiwei, Enhe or Linjiang
Driving	Watch for livestock on the road — do not honk, slow down and let the herd pass
Sun and insects	Wide temperature swings and strong summer sun; bring sunscreen, a long-sleeved layer and insect repellent

Tips

Small things that save a trip

Pack for a temperature swing

Grassland days are hot and nights are cold, and rain concentrates in July, August and September. A warm layer, a rain shell and long trousers belong in the bag even in mid-summer.

Get the fire permit if you self-drive

In the spring and autumn fire seasons self-drivers need a free forest-fire permit. It takes minutes to get with your ID and licence, and you cannot enter some areas without it.

Carry cash into the villages

Shiwei, Enhe and Linjiang have no ATMs and no card readers. Withdraw what you need in Hailar, Manzhouli or Erguna before you head out.

Slow down for the herds

Cattle and sheep wander onto the roads. Do not honk or scare them — slow down, wait, and treat it as part of the scenery rather than an obstacle.

Ride the horse their way

Approach a horse from its head, mount and dismount on the left, and do what the handler says. No playing around or taking calls in the saddle — a spooked horse is a real risk.

Plan your photography around the light

In June to August the sky is bright by 4am and fully dark only after 9pm, so sunrise and sunset shoots need early and late starts. A red jacket pops against green grass, and a yellow one against autumn gold.

Background

Why Hulunbuir looks like this

Land and climate

Hulunbuir sits in the north-east of the Inner Mongolia plateau, with the Greater Khingan range running north to south through the middle. The land falls gradually from west to east: west of the ridge is the continental steppe and the grassland proper, while east of it the terrain eases into the forest edges of the Songnen plain. The whole prefecture is enormous — about the size of the UK.

The ridge divides two climates. East of it lies a semi-humid monsoon zone with 500–800 mm of rain, thick with forest; west of it, a semi-arid zone with only 300–500 mm, which is why the trees give way to grass. Winters are cold and dry, summers hot and wet, and the swing between seasons and between day and night is large — the reason the grassland is green for such a short, brilliant window.

History and peoples

People have lived around Hulun Lake for twenty to thirty thousand years — the Zhalainuoer people were the first — and this grassland became the cradle of the northern nomad nations. The Xiongnu held it from 209 BC; in the first century AD the Xianbei moved south to the lake, turned from hunting to herding, and within a hundred years had grown strong enough to found the Northern Wei dynasty, the first minority dynasty in Chinese history.

In the twelfth century Genghis Khan returned here to fight the decisive battles that unified the Mongol plateau, and in 1214 he granted most of the grassland to his brother Jochi Qasar. Under the Qing, Daur, Ewenki, Barag Mongol and Oroqen banner troops guarded the frontier against Tsarist Russia. Hulunbuir was reorganised as a prefecture-level city in 2001, and today those communities, along with a Russian minority in the border villages, still live across steppe and forest — 32 ethnic groups in all.

Travel with them

Hulunbuir on screen and in print

Not guides — the films, books and songs that carry the grassland's own voice.

Film

Tuya's Marriage (图雅的婚事)

Dir. Wang Quan'an, 2006

The story of a Mongol herder's wife on a dry stretch of Inner Mongolia, who insists that any new husband must help her care for her disabled first husband. Winner of the Golden Bear at Berlin, and the most honest film there is about grassland life as it is now — hard, regional, unsentimental.

Book

Wolf Totem (狼图腾)

Jiang Rong

The book that taught a generation of Chinese readers about the Mongol grassland and its wolves, written from the author's own years as a sent-down youth on the grassland in the late 1960s. A window onto the herding worldview and its uneasy meeting with settled agriculture.

Book

The Last Quarter of the Moon (额尔古纳河右岸)

Chi Zijian

A novel of the Ewenki people of the Greater Khingan, told as the recollections of an old woman who was the last chieftain of her clan. Winner of the Mao Dun Literature Prize, and a moving account of a forest people and their reindeer facing a changing world.

Music

Swan Goose (鸿雁)

Erguna Band

A Mongol folk song, its title a byword for longing and the grassland, and one of the most recognisable pieces of Inner Mongolian music in China. The Erguna Band's version, alongside Pu Shu's 'Birch Forest', is the perfect soundtrack for the drive.

The questions visitors ask us most about Hulunbuir, answered plainly.

Frequently asked questions

Prices and practical details are reviewed every month by our Beijing team and updated the day a rule changes.

When is the best time to visit Hulunbuir?

Late June to August, when the grass is greenest, the forest fullest and the livestock fattest. September turns the grass and birch gold and is better for photography. December to February is the snow-and-ice season, when the whole steppe goes white.

Do I need a car, or are there buses?

A car and driver is far better. The towns are hundreds of kilometres apart and the buses run on timetables that will not fit a sightseeing day; a private car lets you stop whenever the view is good, for ¥300–500 a day all in. Public buses exist between Hailar, Erguna and Manzhouli, but they are slow and rigid.

How do I get to Hulunbuir?

Fly into Hailar Dongshan (HLD), which connects to Beijing, Harbin, Shenyang, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Manzhouli, in the west, has its own smaller airport and is on the Harbin–Manzhouli railway. Self-drive arrivals come by road, but in the spring and autumn fire seasons they need a free forest-fire permit.

Which lake — Hulun or Bell?

Hulun, every time. It is easier to reach, better scenery, and open for tourism; Bell Lake lies on the Mongolian border with security checkpoints and genuinely rough roads for ordinary cars. Go to Hulun (also called Dalai Lake) and skip the trouble.

Is Hulunbuir expensive?

Less than most of China. There is no big-ticket entry-fee culture, accommodation can be a few dozen yuan a night with meals thrown in, and hiring a horse is the main splurge. The real cost is the car; split between three or four people it is cheap.

What should I know about riding horses?

Follow the handler's instructions and never approach a horse from behind — always walk around to its head. Mount and dismount from the left, keep your heels down and grip with your legs, and never play around or take phone calls in the saddle. The horses are calm if you are.

Plan this trip

Prefer it arranged for you?

The same places, with a driver, an English-speaking guide and the tickets already bought.

Hulunbuir Inner Mongolia · 0 tours Hulunbuir is the great grassland of Inner Mongolia — 263,000 km² of steppe, forest and river, about the size of the UK, and the finest grass country i

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Xiamen City guide · 12 tours A subtropical island city of temples, fishing-village lanes and the best street food in Fujian — with the car-free islet of Gulangyu a 20-minute ferry away.

Gulangyu City guide · 12 tours A car-free island of colonial villas, pianos and cats, twenty minutes off Xiamen — and the one place where the trick is simply to stay the night.

Fuzhou City guide · 12 tours A 2,200-year-old capital of banyan trees and mountains-within-the-city, where the Ming lanes of Sanfang Qixiang meet the dockyard that built China's modern navy.

Lugu Lake City guide · 12 tours A 2,680 m lake on the Yunnan–Sichuan border, home to China's last matrilineal people, pig-trough canoes and a great deal of doing nothing.

Xishuangbanna City guide · 12 tours China's tropical south — rainforest, wild elephants, Dai villages and the Mekong, wrapped around the gateway city of Jinghong.

Shangri-La City guide · 12 tours A Tibetan town at 3,300 m in Yunnan's Diqing prefecture — monasteries, grassland, prayer wheels and cold thin air.

Nanchang City guide · 12 tours Jiangxi's 'hero city' on the Gan River — one great Tang pavilion, a 160-metre Ferris wheel, and the best claypot soup you will eat in China.

Hefei City guide · 12 tours Anhui's 2,000-year-old capital: the hometown of China's model judge, a moat-turned-garden ring, and the fast rail gateway to Huangshan.

Hongcun City guide · 12 tours A 900-year-old Hui village laid out as an ox, with water running to every door and a mirror-still crescent pond at its heart.

Wuhan City guide · 12 tours Three towns, two rivers and the best breakfast in China — a huge, blunt river city of bridges, lakes and cheap, brilliant street food.

Changsha City guide · 12 tours Hunan's loud, young capital: a 3,000-year-old city that eats chilli-hot food, stays up all night and treats foot massage as a civic duty.

Fenghuang Ancient Town City guide · 12 tours The stilt-house river town of Shen Congwen's 'Border Town' — glowing lanterns, stepping stones and the best two nights in western Hunan.

Lushan City guide · 12 tours A cloud-wrapped granite mountain with a Victorian hill station on top, waterfalls in three tiers, and the mist that Su Shi said you could never see through.

Wuyuan City guide · 12 tours China's 'most beautiful countryside' — dozens of white-walled Huizhou villages strung along streams and terraced into the hills, and two weeks a year of gold.

Mount Heng (Hengshan, Hunan) City guide · 12 tours The South Great Peak: a pilgrimage mountain of 72 summits where the temples run all the way to the top, and the sunrise over the cloud sea is the whole point.

Huangshan City guide · 12 tours Yellow Mountain: 82 granite peaks of twisted pines and grotesque rock, a sea of cloud that changes by the hour, and hot springs at the foot.

Wudang Mountain City guide · 12 tours The Taoist first mountain of China — a gilded bronze hall on a 1,612 m summit, temples hung off cliff faces, and the birthplace of tai chi.

Luoyang City guide · 12 tours Thirteen dynasties, 100,000 Buddhas carved into a river cliff, China's first Buddhist temple — and a whole city that turns peony-pink every April.

Yuntai Mountain City guide · 12 tours A UNESCO geopark in Henan where red-stone gorges squeeze a river to a slot, a 314 m waterfall drops in one plunge, and every path leads to another pool.

Rizhao City guide · 12 tours A low-key Shandong beach town where the sun rises straight out of the Yellow Sea, the sand runs 60 km and a seafood dinner costs less than a coffee in Shanghai.

Yantai City guide · 12 tours A northern Shandong port of fairy-tale cliffs, wine cellars and long golden beaches — where emperors once hunted the elixir of life and China's wine industry still begins.

Lianyungang City guide · 12 tours A working Jiangsu port with a myth in the middle of it — the Flower-Fruit Mountain of Journey to the West, a sea causeway to a big island beach, and some of the cheapest seafood on the coast.

Sanqing Mountain City guide · 12 tours A vertical forest of granite pillars in Jiangxi — the Python Out of the Mountain, the Goddess of the East Sea, two cable cars and a cliff-hugging walkway at 1,660 metres.

Tianjin City guide · 12 tours Beijing's port city next door — a river of 24 bridges, 2,000 colonial villas, and the best street breakfast in northern China.

Datong City guide · 12 tours A frontier capital of carved Buddhas — the Yungang Grottoes, a temple pinned to a cliff, and the oldest wooden tower in China.

Taiyuan City guide · 12 tours Shanxi's provincial capital and noodle heartland — the spring of Jinci, two Ming pagodas, and a museum that explains the whole province.

Pingyao City guide · 12 tours China's best-preserved ancient walled town — a Ming wall, the first Chinese bank, and two temples of painted clay just outside the gates.

Wutai Mountain City guide · 12 tours China's foremost Buddhist mountain — fifty-plus temples in one valley, crowned by five flat-topped peaks up to 3,058 m.

The Forbidden City City guide · 12 tours Beijing's 600-year imperial palace — 8,700 rooms behind a 72-hectare wall, and the largest surviving wooden palace complex on earth.

Sanya City guide · 12 tours China's only true winter-sun coast — four very different bays, a coral island and a 108 m sea Buddha, all at 18° north.

Haikou City guide · 12 tours Hainan's capital is the island's living city — 600-year-old arcade streets, a volcanic village, and a morning-tea-to-midnight food culture.

Beihai City guide · 12 tours 24 km of fine white sand on one side, a volcanic island of coral and lava on the other — plus a 19th-century arcade old street in between.

Nanning City guide · 12 tours Guangxi's green capital is a gateway to Detian Falls, Beihai and Vietnam — and a genuinely excellent food city if you let it slow you down.

Guangxi City guide · 12 tours One autonomous region, a dozen landscapes — limestone peaks and rice terraces in the north, a Vietnam border and a warm gulf coast in the south.

Huizhou City guide · 12 tours A free West Lake, a Taoist mountain and 200 km of white-sand coast — the Pearl River Delta's most underrated weekend.

Beidaihe City guide · 12 tours Northern China's classic beach escape — one sunrise headland, 10 km of calm swimming water, and a bird flyway overhead twice a year.

Shanhaiguan City guide · 12 tours The town where the Great Wall stops being a rumour of mountains and walks into the Bohai Sea.

Baiyangdian City guide · 12 tours The biggest freshwater lake on the North China Plain — and almost none of it can be reached except by boat.

Qinhuangdao City guide · 12 tours 126 km of Bohai coast in one municipality — a working port, two famous resorts, and the only desert dunes that meet this sea.

Yesanpo City guide · 12 tours Gorge country where the Taihang and Yan ranges collide — 52.5 km of canyon walls, a cave that spits fish, and a river to fall off.

Zhuhai City guide · 12 tours The delta's slow city: a 28 km promenade, 146 islands, oysters fattened where the river meets the sea.

Wuyi Mountain City guide · 12 tours Nine bends of clear water, red sandstone cliffs, and the tea that made a mountain's name.

Jiuzhaigou City guide · 12 tours 108 mineral-blue lakes in one 55 km valley — the place that ruins water everywhere else for you.

Mount Siguniang City guide · 12 tours Four snow peaks, three valleys, and the friendliest 5,000 m mountain in China to stand on top of.

Hailuogou City guide · 12 tours A glacier that comes down to 2,850 m, hot springs in the forest, and Gongga Shan filling the sky above both.

Daocheng Yading City guide · 12 tours Three 6,000 m sacred peaks, glacial lakes at 4,600 m and twenty hours of road — the hardest, highest payoff in Sichuan.

Shunan Bamboo Sea City guide · 12 tours Seventy thousand mu of bamboo over twenty-eight hills, a red sandstone corridor under a closed green roof, and a banquet made entirely of bamboo.

Dujiangyan City guide · 12 tours Not a monument but a machine: three pieces of engineering with no dam, still doing their job after 2,270 years.

Qingcheng Mountain City guide · 12 tours The mountain where Daoism was organised, and the one Chengdu escapes to when the basin turns into an oven.

Qingdao City guide · 12 tours Red-tiled roofs, cold beer and a granite mountain that walks straight into the sea — the easiest good time on the Yellow Sea.

Mount Tai City guide · 12 tours 1,545 metres, 6,290 stone steps and three thousand years of emperors — the one mountain in China that is also a document.

Jinan City guide · 12 tours A provincial capital with 700 springs under the pavement — people still queue at the spouts to fill their kettles.

Weihai City guide · 12 tours 1,000 km of clean coast, a free bathing beach, the island where the Beiyang Fleet died — and thousands of wild swans every winter.

Qufu City guide · 12 tours One family, two thousand years of steles, and a ¥150 pass that covers the lot — the easiest serious day trip in Shandong.

Penglai City guide · 12 tours China's immortals' coast — a Song-dynasty naval harbour you can walk for free, a mythology nobody ever found, and the ferry to 32 islands.

Changdao City guide · 12 tours 32 islands, one causeway, a ¥150 land pass, tens of thousands of gulls and nowhere you can drive — the place where everything happens by boat.

Nanjing City guide · 12 tours Capital of six dynasties, capital of the Republic, and the city that eats more duck than anywhere else on earth.

Suzhou City guide · 12 tours Two thousand five hundred years of canals, sixty surviving gardens, and a city that shuts its gates at half past five.

Zhouzhuang City guide · 12 tours Nine hundred years, fourteen bridges, one ticket — and a town that only makes sense before eight in the morning.

Tongli City guide · 12 tours Fifteen canals, seven islets, forty-nine bridges — and a town that still gets up at dawn because it lives here.

Wuxi City guide · 12 tours Taihu on one side, a Grand Buddha on the next hill, and ribs sweet enough to argue about — the most underrated city on the Yangtze delta.

Yangzhou City guide · 12 tours A city built by salt merchants who had more money than restraint — gardens, a narrow lake, and the best breakfast in China.

Zhenjiang City guide · 12 tours Three hills, one ferry landing, and an unreasonable share of Chinese literature — the Yangtze city people drive past.

Changzhou City guide · 12 tours A 2,500-year-old canal city that built a dinosaur park and refuses to apologise for it.

Wuzhen City guide · 12 tours A town that is two towns: the older, quieter East Zone and the lit-up West Zone you sleep inside.

Xitang City guide · 12 tours Nine canals, 122 lanes, one long roofed corridor — and a town that still works for a living.

Hangzhou City guide · 12 tours A lake in the middle of a city, a tea village in the hills, and two thousand years of getting the mood right.

Xixi Wetland City guide · 12 tours Ten square kilometres of marsh inside Hangzhou, and the only way into half of it is a boat.

Ningbo City guide · 12 tours A 7,000-year-old port with Asia's oldest private library, a free waterfront 20 years older than Shanghai's, and the best seafood before the islands.

Mount Putuo City guide · 12 tours A Buddhist island with no cars, three great temples and a ¥10 lunch that is the point of the place.

Qiandao Lake City guide · 12 tours A thousand islands that did not exist sixty years ago, and the cleanest big-lake water in China.

Shaoxing City guide · 12 tours Two and a half thousand years of water-town China, and Lu Xun's house is free.

Zhoushan City guide · 12 tours 1,390 islands, one road bridge in, and a harbour that lands more fish than almost anywhere on earth.

Hengdian City guide · 12 tours A backlot the size of a town, where the palaces are copies and the film crews are real.

Yandang Mountain City guide · 12 tours A volcano that weathering turned into scenery — 500-odd sights of peak, cave and waterfall across eight scenic areas.

Zhejiang City guide · 12 tours One small, mountainous, absurdly rich province that holds a lake, two canal towns, a Buddhist island and a dead volcano.

Hong Kong Outlying Islands City guide · 12 tours Two hundred-odd islands, half an hour of ferry from the financial district, and not a car on three of them.

Hong Kong Shopping City guide · 12 tours A duty-free port where the tag starts lower, two citywide sale seasons knock a third off, and every mall sits on an MTR exit.

Macao City guide · 12 tours Four hundred years of Portuguese streets, a fake Venice under a painted sky, and the best egg tart in Asia.

Urumqi City guide · 12 tours The city furthest from the sea, with a snow range on its doorstep and dinner starting at nine.

Hong Kong SAR, China City guide · 11 tours A harbour skyline you already know by heart, dim sum trolleys at dawn, and 260 islands an hour from the neon.

Taiwan, China City guide · 11 tours Night-market alleys, high-mountain railways, and a coastline that changes character every hundred kilometres.

Qinghai Lake City guide · 12 tours A 4,400 sq km inland sea at 3,200 m, ringed by rapeseed gold, prayer flags and the best cycling road in China.

Mount Emei City guide · 11 tours A 3,099-metre Buddhist summit you can reach by cable car before lunch — and a mountain full of monkeys that will absolutely rob you.

Beijing City guide · 11 tours Six centuries of imperial red walls, a Great Wall you can climb before lunch, and the best roast duck on earth.

Taipei City guide · 11 tours A 24-hour bookstore, a night market that never stops sizzling, and a city that apologises when you bump into it.

North Xinjiang City guide · 11 tours Alpine lakes the colour of poured enamel, a village of log cabins under birch trees, and the last tear the Atlantic ever sheds.

Lanzhou City guide · 11 tours A city split in half by the Yellow River, where beef noodles are a breakfast ritual and the Silk Road still runs through the streets.

Mount Hua City guide · 11 tours Five granite peaks, one plank road bolted to a cliff face, and a sunrise that justifies the 2am start.

Dunhuang City guide · 11 tours A desert oasis where Buddhist cave art survived a thousand years and a crescent lake refused to dry up.

Gannan City guide · 11 tours 433 kilometres of the Yellow River's first bend, a 3.5 km prayer-wheel circuit, and Tibetan grasslands almost nobody has commercialised yet.

Sichuan–Tibet Highway City guide · 11 tours 2,142 kilometres of cliff-edge switchbacks, four of China's most beautiful mountains, and a road the Tibetans walk on their knees.

Kangding City guide · 11 tours The town that gave Asia its most famous love song, a 7,556m sacred peak on its doorstep, and the last real Tibetan town before the road climbs to Lhasa.

Lhasa City guide · 12 tours A city of prayer wheels and butter lamps at 3,700 metres, where the sun shines 3,000 hours a year and the world's highest palace watches over it all.

Nyingchi City guide · 11 tours Tibet's greenest corner — peach blossom valleys, a 7,782 m peak that hides from almost everyone, and the world's deepest canyon.

Namtso City guide · 11 tours A 1,920-square-kilometre sheet of impossible blue at 4,718 metres, ringed by snow peaks and prayer flags.

Chongqing City guide · 12 tours A vertical city of fog, cable cars and cliff-side stilt houses, where the火锅 never stops boiling and the night skyline outshines Hong Kong.

Qiandongnan City guide · 11 tours A thousand Miao households stacked up a mountainside, drum towers and wind-rain bridges in Dong villages, and a 600-year-old Ming garrison town on the road to Guiyang.

Libo City guide · 11 tours Emerald rivers threading through karst peaks, a 600-metre forest growing out of a riverbed, and China's largest wild plum grove.

Guiyang City guide · 11 tours China's summer capital at 1,100 metres, where the nights run on sour fish soup, street-side barbecue and mahjong that never quite stops.

Zhenyuan City guide · 11 tours A 2,000-year-old river town where the Wuyang River carves an S through the mountains and every lane hides a story.

Huangguoshu City guide · 11 tours Asia's biggest waterfall, and the only one on earth you can walk behind, above and around — plus 600-year-old Ming dynasty villages a short drive away.

Harbin City guide · 11 tours Minus 30 degrees, a frozen river you can walk across, and a cathedral built by Russians who never went home.

Yunnan City guide · 11 tours Snow mountains, tropical rainforest, twenty-five minorities and a plate of rice noodles — all in one province.

Shanghai City guide · 11 tours A 1920s waterfront of colonial banks facing a science-fiction skyline, soup dumplings you eat with a straw, and 20 million people moving like clockwork.

Zhangjiajie City guide · 11 tours Three thousand sandstone pillars straight out of Avatar, a glass skywalk bolted to a cliff, and a cable car that leaves from downtown.

Guangzhou City guide · 11 tours A 2,200-year-old trading port where dim sum is a religion, colonial islands sit beside 600-metre towers, and the food never stops.

Guilin City guide · 11 tours Karst peaks rising straight out of a green river, rice terraces carved into mountainsides, and the best bowl of noodles you'll eat in China.

Shenzhen City guide · 11 tours A fishing village that became a megacity in forty years — and it still has 500-year-old banyans, empty beaches and dim sum worth the border crossing.

Chengdu City guide · 11 tours A 3,000-year-old city where the schedule is tea, mahjong and hotpot — and the pandas are just the opening act.

Xinjiang City guide · 11 tours Snow peaks, grassland, desert and oasis — one-sixth of China, and the longest road you will ever ride.

Xi'an City guide · 14 tours Thirteen dynasties of emperors, a terracotta army buried for 2,200 years, and a walled city you can cycle in 100 minutes.

Qinghai City guide · 11 tours China's high-altitude blue heart: a salt lake you can walk on, a 3,200-metre sea, and yak butter tea at the roof of the world.

Tibet City guide · 11 tours A plateau the size of Western Europe where the sky starts at your feet, prayer flags carry the wind, and the roads run past 8,000-metre peaks.

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Free itinerary design, a revised plan within one working day, and nothing charged until you approve the final version.

Fly into Hailar (HLD) — the region's transport hub; Manzhouli has its own airport west.
The classic loop is Hailar–Erguna–Enhe–Shiwei–Linjiang–Moerdaoga–Qian'an–Hailar, about 1,500 km.
Late June to August is green and warm; late September is the photographers' month.

Hulunbuir travel guide: the grassland loop, the Russian villages and the road to Manzhouli

The Mergele River

Erguna and the Genhe wetland

The Russian villages

Qian'an, at the end of the road

Manzhouli and the border

The forests of Moerdaoga

Hailar

Hailar to Erguna and Enhe

Shiwei and Linjiang

Moerdaoga and Qian'an

Back to Hailar

Hailar

Mergele and Erguna

Enhe and Shiwei

Back to Hailar

Erguna and the Genhe wetland

Shiwei and the Russian villages

The Mergele River

Qian'an

Manzhouli and the border

Moerdaoga and the forest

Hailar

Hand-grabbed mutton (shoubarou)

Roast whole lamb

Mutton hotpot (shuan yangrou)

Mongolian milk tea (guocha)

Russian bread and blueberry jam

White mushrooms and lake fish

Barag Flavour Restaurant

Defu Whole-Lamb House

Dalai Lake Restaurant

Grassland yurt kitchens

Forest Outdoor Donkey Hostel

Hulunbuir Shenzhou Express Hotel

Ibis Hailar Shengli

Erguna & Shiwei family lodges

Flavour beef jerky

Dried curd and dairy

Blueberry juice and jam

Crafts and dolls

Pack for a temperature swing

Get the fire permit if you self-drive

Carry cash into the villages

Slow down for the herds

Ride the horse their way

Plan your photography around the light

Land and climate

History and peoples

Tuya's Marriage (图雅的婚事)

Wolf Totem (狼图腾)

The Last Quarter of the Moon (额尔古纳河右岸)

Swan Goose (鸿雁)

Frequently asked questions

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Tell us your dates.We'll do the rest.

Tell us your dates.
We'll do the rest.