Baotou

About Baotou

Baotou grew from a small Yellow River trading town into one of the two largest cities of Inner Mongolia, an industrial powerhouse built around steel and the rare-earth mines of Bayan Obo to the north. Its name is usually explained as Mongolian for 'place with deer', and wide boulevards, parks and green belts give the modern city a spacious feel.

The real draws lie on the city's edges. In the Daqing Mountains, Wudang Zhao is the grandest surviving Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Inner Mongolia, while Meidai Zhao combines a temple with a fortress from the era of the Mongol ruler Altan Khan. North of the hills, the grasslands of Darhan Muminggan Banner offer yurt camps, horse riding and the ruins of a medieval walled city.

Baotou Donghe Airport has flights to major Chinese cities, and high-speed trains link the city with Hohhot. Summer and early autumn are the best seasons, when the grasslands are green and the mountain air is cool; winters are long and very cold.