Urad Middle Banner 乌拉特中旗

Setting and landscape

Three east–west ranges of the Yin Mountains (阴山), the Langshan (狼山, also written 二狼山), Wuliangsutai (乌梁素太山) and Chasitai (查斯太山), split the banner into a narrow strip of Hetao plain in the south, a mountain belt in the middle and rolling upland to the north. The banner government notes that the mountain belt lies on the boundary between the China platform and the Mongolian geosyncline. Wubulang Pass (乌不浪口) divides the mountains: to the west they rise to 1,912.1 metres, to the east the Hailutu basin lies between two lower ridges. In the north, Solon Mountain (索伦山) reaches 1,393 metres.

The climate is dry and continental, with 115 to 250 mm of rain a year, winters lasting five months from November to March, windy springs and more than 3,000 hours of sunshine a year.

History

The banner yearbook records a Palaeolithic stone-tool workshop site and Yinshan petroglyphs (阴山岩画) dating back to the Neolithic. King Wuling of Zhao (赵武灵王) built a wall at the foot of the Yin Mountains, and the Qin placed the area under Jiuyuan Commandery (九原郡). In 1648 the Qing granted pasture here to the Urad (乌拉特), led by descendants of Qasar (哈萨尔), a brother of Genghis Khan, who moved west from Hulunbuir and were divided into front, middle and rear banners. The area came under the new government after the Suiyuan peaceful uprising of 19 September 1949. The banner merged with Urad Rear Banner in 1952; after the western communes were split off in 1970, it took back the name Urad Middle Banner in 1981.

What to see

The Bayannur culture and tourism bureau lists the Wind-Erosion Ice-Mortar Geopark (风蚀冰臼地质公园) at Wubulang Pass, the Urad Middle Banner Museum (乌拉特中旗博物馆) in Hailutu, and the Camel Bell Post (驼铃驿站) tourist area near Hailutu railway station. The banner calls itself the home of swan-goose (鸿雁) culture, of long Mongolian-language novels, of gobi stones and of Mongolian folk song.

Getting oriented

Hailutu is 161 km from the Bayannur city seat in Linhe and 219 km from Baotou (包头). Ganqimaodu (甘其毛都), at border marker 703 and 133 km from Hailutu, is Bayannur's only permanent bilateral land port and a national first-class port for trade with Mongolia.

Highlights

• Ganqimaodu port 甘其毛都口岸: Bayannur's only permanent bilateral land port on the Mongolian border.
• Wind-Erosion Ice-Mortar Geopark 风蚀冰臼地质公园: Graded geopark at Wubulang Pass.
• Urad Middle Banner Museum 乌拉特中旗博物馆: Graded museum in Hailutu.
• Camel Bell Post 驼铃驿站: 3A tourist area near Hailutu railway station.