Get to know Alxa Left Banner
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- Administrative area
- Banner · 旗
- Part of
- Alxa League
- Chinese name
- 阿拉善左旗
- Local areas
- Banner guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 80,412.00 km²
- Population · 2020
- 203,958
- Administrative seat
- Bayanhot
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
History
Bayanhot grew from Dingyuanying (定远营), a Qing fortress town completed in 1730 and granted in 1731 to the Alxa prince Abao (阿宝). It remained the administrative centre of the Alxa Banner and a military and trading town of western Inner Mongolia, and was renamed Bayanhot in 1952. Dingyuanying, with its prince's mansion, Yanfu Temple (延福寺), old houses and remains of walls and gates, was listed as a national key cultural relic in 2006. The Alxa League government names the Qing general Yue Zhongqi (岳钟琪) as its founder.
The old Alxa Banner was split into Left and Right banners in April 1961. Alxa Left was transferred to Ningxia in July 1969 and returned to Inner Mongolia in 1979.
What to see
Guangzong Temple (广宗寺), known as the South Temple, stands in Barunbieli town (巴润别立镇); Chinese Wikipedia describes it as the largest monastery in Alxa. It was founded in 1757 by Ngawang Dorje (阿旺多尔济) to fulfil the wish of his teacher, the Sixth Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso (仓央嘉措), whose body was then enshrined there. In 1760 the Qianlong Emperor gave it a name board written in Mongolian, Chinese, Manchu and Tibetan. It was burned in 1869, pulled down in 1971 and rebuilt from 1981. It lies within the Helan Mountain eco-tourism area, which the league government lists as a 4A scenic area.
The league's other 4A areas in the banner include the Fuyin Temple (福因寺), known as the North Temple, the Dingyuanying old town, the Swan Lake (天鹅湖) and Tengger Dalai Moon Lake (腾格里达来月亮湖) desert areas in the Tengger Desert (腾格里沙漠), and the Tonghu grassland (通湖草原).
Getting oriented
Bayanhot has the Helan Mountains to its east and the Tengger Desert to its west, and three streams from the Helan Mountains run through the town. The Bayin Expressway links it with Yinchuan (银川) in Ningxia, a first-class road runs to Wuhai (乌海), and Bayanhot airport opened in December 2013.
Highlights
- Dingyuanying 定远营: Qing fortress town of 1730 with the Alxa prince's mansion and Yanfu Temple; national key cultural relic since 2006.
- Guangzong Temple 广宗寺: The South Temple, founded in 1757 for the Sixth Dalai Lama; described as the largest monastery in Alxa.
- Fuyin Temple 福因寺: The North Temple, part of a 4A-rated Helan Mountain area.
- Tengger Dalai Moon Lake 腾格里达来月亮湖: 4A-rated desert area in the Tengger Desert.
Sources for this guide
阿拉善概况 · Alxa League Administrative Office
厉害了内蒙古！这4个地方被国家点名，有你家乡吗？ · Inner Mongolia News (内蒙古新闻网)
巴彦浩特镇 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0
定远营 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0
广宗寺 (阿拉善) · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-26.
Explore Alxa Left Banner
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Alxa Left Banner
Tengger Desert Scenic Area · 腾格里沙漠开放旅游区Tengger Desert Scenic Area腾格里沙漠开放旅游区
Tengger Desert Scenic Area (腾格里沙漠开放旅游区) is a grasslands & deserts entry in Alxa Left Banner, Inner Mongolia. Its listed highlights include desert landscapes.
Read the place guide →
Helan Mountain Guangzong Monastery (贺兰山广宗寺), Alxa Left Banner. Photograph: "A picture from China every day 289".Helan Mountain Guangzong Monastery贺兰山广宗寺
Helan Mountain Guangzong Monastery (贺兰山广宗寺), also called South Temple, is a Tibetan Buddhist complex on the western slopes of the Helan Mountains in Alxa Left Banner.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Alxa Left Banner covers the centre of Alxa League. Search for 阿拉善左旗 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Tengger Desert Scenic Area and Helan Mountain Guangzong Monastery are both listed here. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Alxa League →More in Alxa League
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Some facts checked against 巴彦浩特镇 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Some facts checked against 定远营 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Some facts checked against 广宗寺 (阿拉善) — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Tengger Desert Scenic Area · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Photo: Helan Mountain Guangzong Monastery · Carsten Ullrich from Shanghai, China · CC BY-SA 2.0. Full frame retained; EXIF orientation normalized, proportionally resized to at most 800 pixels and converted to WebP. No generated pixels or subject changes. Cards may crop the display.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.