Erlian (Erenhot in Mongolian,二连浩特 in Chinese) is a small desert border town at the northern tip of Inner Mongolia, the last stop on Chinese territory before the Trans-Mongolian Railway crosses into Mongolia proper. Most visitors pass through in transit — the border crossing at Erlian connects to Zamiin-Uud on the Mongolian side, where the carriages are lifted and their bogies changed to match the wider Mongolian gauge — but the town has enough character and a strong enough claim on geological history to justify a short stay.
The dinosaur connection is the headline attraction. The Erlian Basin is one of the world's most productive Late Cretaceous fossil sites, and the bones of multiple sauropod and theropod species have been pulled from the surrounding desert. The Erlian Dinosaur Museum, seven kilometres from the town centre, has well-presented exhibits and a large outdoor garden of life-size skeletal replicas. The town has leaned into its prehistoric identity to an almost comic degree — the main street leads to a Dinosaur Plaza presided over by the famous "kissing dinosaurs" arch. It is all rather charming.
Beyond the fossils, Erlian sits on the edge of open steppe that stretches uninterrupted to the Mongolian border and beyond. The grassland tours available from the town are considerably less organised than those near Hohhot, which for some travellers is exactly the point. Xilinhot, several hours to the east, is a more developed base for grassland exploration if that is the priority, but Erlian's steppe is more accessible on a short visit.
The Trans-Mongolian Railway connects Erlian to Beijing in about twelve hours (train K23, departing Beijing at 11:22), and buses cross the border to Zamiin-Uud frequently through the day. The town is small enough to walk across in thirty minutes; accommodation is basic but adequate for a transit stop. The border crossing closes at night, so travellers arriving late should plan to sleep in Erlian and cross the following morning.