10 Days in Ordos

Ground yourself in the 2011 museum's grassland galleries before the long drives; evening on the lakeside promenade of this district of 2016.

1. eerduosi kangbashi square
2. eerduosi ordos museum
3. eerduosi wulanmulun lake

About 45 kilometres south: a memorial shrine — the burial place is unrecorded — with caretaker families serving since 1227 and halls rebuilt in 1954.

1. eerduosi genghis khan mausoleum

The 5A desert area 55 kilometres north of Dongsheng; cable car up, humming sled runs down, and a night near Dalad.

1. eerduosi xiangshawan

Seven lakes through the Kubuqi, China's seventh-largest desert at about 18,600 square kilometres; stay for the dark sky.

1. eerduosi qixing lake

Yurt camps and Nadam-style summer games on the Hanggin grassland; the return drive is short enough for a lazy afternoon.

1. eerduosi ordos grassland

An honest long-distance day: roughly 200 kilometres southwest into Etoke Banner, cliff caves cut into a red sandstone hill and painted across several eras; start early, take a picnic.

1. eerduosi arjai grottoes

An honest neighbouring-city day about 100 kilometres north; the 1749 lamasery climbs its wooded slope, and Saihantala keeps grassland inside Baotou's street grid.

1. eerduosi wudang monastery
2. eerduosi saihantala grassland

The river bends through Zhungeer Banner's canyon country, with the Baozitawan bend the classic viewpoint; the loop back to Kangbashi takes the afternoon.

1. eerduosi yellow river canyon

A slow day: lanes and snack stalls at Kangzhen, then the evening lights around the Wulanmulun lakes.

1. eerduosi kangzhen
2. eerduosi wulanmulun lake

One more pass through the museum for whatever you missed, then the train or flight from Ordos airport.

1. eerduosi ordos museum