10 Days in Baotou

Tanks and guns at the 1950s-base open-air park, then deer and boardwalks on the Saihantala meadow inside the city.

1. baotou northern weapons city
2. baotou saihantala grassland

The Yinshan monastery founded in the early Qing, expanded in 1749 as Guangjue Temple and state-protected since 1996; Shimen's reservoir on the return.

1. baotou wudang lha monastery
2. baotou shimen scenic area

The 16th-century walls-and-halls compound east of the city, main gate dated 1606, set among Mongolian-Han farmland.

1. baotou meidaizhao

Ridge-walking the roughly 2,200-year-old stone and rammed-earth Qin sections at Guyang; the return road points toward the rare-earth town of Bayan Obo.

1. baotou guyang qin great wall

North to the 1,700 m steppe — horse trails, the Qing Puhui Temple and a yurt night under wide skies.

1. baotou xilamuren grassland

An easy grassland morning, back to the city by noon, then the city museum's grassland-culture galleries in the afternoon.

1. baotou museum

The Qing Miaofa Temple in the Donghe old quarter, market streets and a slow afternoon — laundry and tea before the neighbor days.

1. baotou miaofa temple
2. baotou city markets

The regional capital, about two hours east — the Dazhao temple founded in 1580 with its silver Buddha, and the regional museum's dinosaur and grassland halls. Return by evening.

1. hohhot dazhao temple
2. hohhot inner mongolia museum

South across the Yellow River into Ordos prefecture — the Xiangshawan ("sounding sands") dunes of the Kubuqi desert, with slide runs and camel lines. Back to Baotou for the night.

1. ordos xiangshawan

A last golden-hour loop on the city meadow, a market dinner, then the overnight train or the flight out.

1. baotou saihantala grassland