Hulunbuir Travel Guide

Hunlunbuir is a prefecture in the northeastern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (Inner Mongolia, for short) whose capital is the city of Hailar, which lies roughly midway between the Xinggan Mountains in the east and Lake Hulun in the west. The border with Russia lies some 20 kilometers north of the northernmost shores of Lake Hulun. 

Nature and Wildlife

Thanks to the abundance of lakes and rivers, many migratory birds spend part of the year here, including swans, cranes, egrets, storks, and wild geese. Larks nest in the tall grass in the summer, flying high in the sky in the spring with their characteristic fluttering flight and their distinctive song. Butterflies abound everywhere during summer. The ocean of tall grass swaying in the breeze, the vastness of the sky above, and the large herds with their nomadic herdsmen on horseback are as picturesque as it gets. In fact, the most salient feature of Hulunbuir Prefecture is that it is what one in the great plains of the US would call "Big Sky Country", i.e., in its flatter, or steppe, parts, it offers views that stretch endlessly, and generally with vast blue skies above.

Not all of the prefecture is flatland, of course. Hulunbuir Prefecture also boasts mountains (the Greater Xinggan Mountains), various lakes - of which the Hulun and the Buir are the largest, albeit, Lake Buir lies mostly within "Outer" Mongolia - and numerous rivers, some of which are majestically serpentine. For example, the Mergel Gol River is said to have more bends than any other river on earth, but in fact, the Yimin River, which runs from Ewenk Banner northward into the city of Hailar, has even more bends. The effect of these many serpentine bends in the rivers of Hulunbuir Prefecture is that more grassland area is supported, enabling larger herds to graze here.

The area of the Greater Xinggan Mountains is characterized by deep gorges and precipitous cliffs where the Argun River flows northward, being fed by many smaller streams along its 700-kilometer-long course before linking up with the Heilong (aka the Amur, in Russia) River, which empties into the Strait of Tartary some 2000 kilometers farther eastward, between Sakhalin Island and the mainland. The Argun and the Heilong/ Amur form the boundary between China and Russia for hundreds of kilometers as the Argun River courses northward, then becomes the Heilong/ Amur River as it arcs eastward.

Local Life

The Han Chinese who settled in the eastern part of Hulunbuir Prefecture stem mainly from the northern and northeastern areas of China proper. They have maintained many of their customs over the years, especially their food customs. Therefore one sees the divergence in food habits between the eastern and western parts of the prefecture, where congee, noodles, Mantou bread, and rice are enjoyed in the east, while beef, mutton, and Mongolian-style milk tea are enjoyed in the west.

Weather & Climate

Hulunbuir Prefecture offers "four-season" weather, including snowy mountains in the winter. In the summer period, which is quite brief, there are a number of ethnic festivals. For lodgings, one can also choose to stay in a Yurt with a Mongolian family, experiencing first-hand the culture of the local Mongols.

Hulunbuir Grasslands

The Hulunbuir Grasslands are named after the prefecture which they occupy, Hulunbuir. Hulunbuir Prefecture is in turn named after the two lakes which lie at its center, Lake Hulun to the north (the larger of the two bodies of water) and Lake Buir to the south. Only the northeastern side of the latter lake lies within Inner Mongolia and Hulunbuir Prefecture. The greater part of Lake Buir lies in "Outer" Mongolia (aka the Republic of Mongolia). The Hulunbuir Grasslands are the principal grasslands of Inner Mongolia, even though the Ordos Grasslands have traditionally been more known outside of China.

The Hulunbuir Grasslands abound in sheep, cattle, cashmere goats, some camels, and of course lots and lots of horses. Almost all of Hulunbuir Prefecture lies on the flat Mongolian Plateau, which is a loess plateau that is significantly more fertile than the average clay-and-sand grassland. Though the plateau has no defining ravines, gorges, or valleys - and hardly any mountains with the exception of Greater Daxinggan Mountain and Castle Peak - it abounds in lakes. The Mongolian Plateau has over a thousand lakes, large and small. With its fertile "fields" of endless grass dotted here and there with herds of cattle, sheep, and goats, and the occasional conglomeration of yurts, and with its vast open skies above, the Hulunbuir Grasslands are the poster image of unspoiled nature.

A close-up look at the grass reveals a myriad of colorful wildflowers that bloom each year during the short summer season. The blue expanse of Lake Hunlun vies with the verdant expanse of the grasslands, further amplifying the beauty of this unique piece of nature.

There are a variety of activities available to the visitor to the Hulunbuir Grasslands: one can dress up in Mongolian attire and take a refreshing gallop on a Mongolian steed across the endless grass, one can take a leisurely ride around the terrain on a Bactrian camel, one can take a ride on a special Mongolian horse-drawn cart, and one can, of course, paddle a boat out into Lake Hunlun either in search of fish (all of the eateries around the lake serve fresh fish from Lake Hunlun of course - and there are several edible species to choose from) or in search of a spot of marine tranquility to break the tranquility of the grassland. To really break the tranquility, one can rent a shotgun and go hunting in the nearby forest.

Besides fish, the area offers of course mutton, either roasted or boiled. The Mongols are also fond of their traditional milk tea. There are souvenir shops here where one can purchase something special by which to remember the Hulunbuir Grasslands, and if one is into more lively shopping, one can visit the border town (it borders with Russia), Manzhouli, where one should be prepared to haggle over prices. But the real pearl of the area is the unspoiled grasslands that also serve as a migratory home-away-from-home to the so-called yellow goat, the Mongolian gazelle (Procapra gutturosa) that wander into Inner Mongolia/ Hulunbuir Grasslands from eastern Mongolia and Siberia during the dead of winter, as the climate of Hulunbuir is milder at this time of year than in their primary homelands, which are completely and relentlessly frozen over during the middle of winter.

The Hulunbuir Grasslands was selected as the top Undiscovered China Attractions.