Horqin Left Middle Banner 科尔沁左翼中旗

Setting and landscape

The banner stretches 191 km east to west and 116 km north to south, and its average altitude is only 120 to 215 metres, a transition zone between the Songliao Plain and the Inner Mongolian Plateau. The Zhurihe open woodland grassland (珠日河疏林草原), 115 km north of Tongliao city, covers 50,000 mu of old elm groves and natural pasture; the banner government says 70 percent of the elms are more than a century old.

History

The banner was created in 1636, in the Chongde reign of the Qing, and was popularly known as the Darhan Banner (达尔罕旗) after the Darhan prince of the Horqin. In 1914 the Republican government founded Tongliao town at Balintailai (巴林太来), inside the banner. From 1932 to 1949 its official name was East Horqin Middle Banner (东科中旗). During the civil war the Eastern Mongolian Military and Political Cadre School (东蒙军政干部学校) was set up here, at Bayantala (巴彦塔拉). The banner government calls it the home of the Qing empress Xiaozhuang (孝庄文皇后) and of the Mongol hero Gada Meiren (嘎达梅林).

What to see

The Xiaozhuang Garden Cultural Tourism Area (孝庄园文化旅游区), a 4A scenic area of 8,000 mu, is themed on the empress's birthplace on the former site of the Darhan Prince's Mansion (达尔罕亲王府), 48 km from urban Tongliao.

The Hamin Archaeological Site Park (哈民考古遗址公园) in Sheboutu Town (舍伯吐镇) protects a settlement of 5,500 to 5,000 years ago. Excavators found 81 house sites; the timber frames of over ten semi-subterranean houses survive, and one house of only 18 square metres held 97 human skeletons. It was named one of the national top ten archaeological discoveries in 2011 and a national key cultural relics protection unit in 2019.

The Zhurihe Grassland Tourism Area (珠日河草原旅游区) hosts the Jirem horse-racing festival (哲里木赛马节) and offers horse racing, bökh wrestling (博克), archery and camel rides.

Food, music and local culture

The banner is the birthplace of the chor (潮尔) master Selaxi (色拉西), the sihu (四胡) fiddler Sun Liang (孙良) and the morin khuur player Chi Bulag (齐·宝力高). In 2010 a thousand-player sihu performance set a Guinness world record. Chinese Wikipedia lists the long narrative song Gada Meiren among the national intangible heritage items.

At Zhurihe visitors eat hand-torn mutton, roast whole lamb and milk tea. The banner government's food page describes chaomi (炒米), known in Mongolian as khuursen budaa (呼日森布达): broomcorn millet steamed, fried and milled, eaten at breakfast with butter, boiled mutton and salted milk tea.

Highlights

• Xiaozhuang Garden Cultural Tourism Area 孝庄园文化旅游区: 4A scenic area on the site of the Darhan Prince's Mansion, themed on Empress Xiaozhuang's birthplace.
• Hamin Archaeological Site Park 哈民考古遗址公园: Settlement of 5,500 to 5,000 years ago with surviving house timbers; national key cultural relics protection unit since 2019.
• Zhurihe Grassland Tourism Area 珠日河草原旅游区: Venue of the Jirem horse-racing festival, with wrestling, archery and camel rides.
• Zhurihe open woodland grassland 珠日河疏林草原: 50,000 mu of old elm groves and pasture, most elms over a century old.
• Chaomi 炒米: Steamed, fried and milled broomcorn millet eaten at breakfast with milk tea.