The Kubuqi Desert (库布齐沙漠), China's seventh largest desert, stretches along the south bank of the Yellow River for about 400 kilometres north of Ordos. The dunes at the accessible sections near Xiangshawan (Singing Sands Bay) reach 60–80 metres and have been developed with the full range of Chinese adventure tourism: sand slides, off-road vehicles, zip lines, and camel rides. For travellers who want the dune experience without the crowds, the quieter stretches of the Kubuqi further west are accessible on horseback or by hired car and offer genuinely dramatic desert scenery.
The desert is at its best in the early morning and late afternoon when the dune shadows are long and the colours are warm. Sunset from the top of a large dune, with the Yellow River visible as a silver ribbon in the near distance, is one of the more memorable landscape experiences in Inner Mongolia. The Kubuqi section nearest Ordos has good accommodation ranging from desert-camp yurts to slightly incongruous resort hotels built on the sand.