Xilamuren Grasslands

Xilamuren, about 80 kilometres north of Hohhot, is the most accessible grassland destination for travellers based in the city. The landscape is genuinely steppe — open, rolling, with a sky that seems to start just above your head — and the yurt camp infrastructure is well-developed, with dozens of camps offering overnight stays, horse riding, and evening performances of Mongolian music and wrestling. The experience is more packaged than Hulunbuir, but for a short visit it delivers what it promises: a ger, a fire, and an uninterrupted horizon.

The camps range from basic to comfortable; the better ones are run by local Mongolian families rather than tour companies and provide a more genuine experience of pastoral hospitality. Horse riding is universally available and the horses are accustomed to inexperienced riders. Sunset and sunrise on the steppe are the moments worth waking up for — the flat light of early morning on the grass is different from anything in the city. Hohhot tour operators offer day trips and overnight packages; booking through a guesthouse is typically cheaper than through the larger agencies.

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A story
The Mongolian name Xilamuren means "yellow river" — a reference to the river's seasonal colour, not its size. The grassland around it has been a ceremonial and grazing land for the Tumut Mongols since the 17th century, when the Qing court designated sections of it as imperial hunting grounds. The contrast between the managed parklands of the Qing hunting reserve and the open steppe immediately beyond was a deliberate architectural statement about where Chinese civilisation ended and the nomadic world began.