Get to know Xianghuang Banner
- Administrative area
- Banner · 旗
- Part of
- Xilingol League
- Chinese name
- 镶黄旗
- Local areas
- Banner guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 5,137.27 km²
- Population · 2020
- 27,399
- Administrative seat
- Xin Bulag
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Setting and landscape
The north of the banner reaches the southwestern edge of the Hunshandake Sandy Land (浑善达克沙地). The average altitude is about 1,300 metres, and the ground is higher in the south than in the north. Winters are long and cold, summers fairly hot, and rain is scarce. There is no permanent river: the banner drains inland to the Chagan Nur (查干淖尔) system through six larger seasonal streams, which Mongolian calls gol (高勒). Juniper (杜松), a nationally rare tree, grows over 655 hectares, and the grassland yields herbs such as ephedra and licorice.
History
The banner descends from the Bordered Yellow Banner of the Eight Chahar Banners (八旗察哈尔) of the Qing dynasty, run from the Kangxi reign until the early Republic by a commander under the Chahar governor. In 1949 it was merged into the Shangdu–Xianghuang Joint Banner, which came under Xilingol League in 1958. It merged with Huade County (化德县) in 1960 and took its present name, and the two were separated again in 1963.
What to see
The Xianghuang Banner Mongolian Horse Culture Museum (镶黄旗蒙古马文化博物馆) in the seat, Xinbaolag (新宝拉格镇), is a round building opened in 2008 and rated a national 2A tourist area. Its second floor shows riding and racing gear, tools for making mare's milk products, a replica of a gold saddle dug up in the banner in 1988, and a model of the 13th-century relay-post route between Beijing and Mongolia.
The league government calls the banner the "home of stone north of the Great Wall" and lists granite developed there in red, black, white and yellow, in seven varieties.
Getting oriented
Xinbaolag is the banner's centre. The league government puts Beijing, Hohhot (呼和浩特) and the Erenhot (二连浩特) border crossing each within 400 kilometres, and names the Jining–Tongliao railway (集通铁路) and national road 511 among the routes through the banner.
Highlights
- Mongolian Horse Culture Museum 镶黄旗蒙古马文化博物馆: Round museum of horse culture in Xinbaolag, opened in 2008, with a replica of a gold saddle found in the banner in 1988.
- Xianghuang granite 镶黄旗花岗岩: Granite in four colours and seven varieties quarried in the banner.
Sources for this guide
镶黄旗 (内蒙古) - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Chinese Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
镶黄旗_锡林郭勒盟行政公署 · Xilingol League Administrative Office
镶黄旗蒙古马文化博物馆_锡林郭勒盟行政公署 · Xilingol League Administrative Office
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-26.
Explore Xianghuang Banner
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Xianghuang Banner 镶黄旗
Plan your visit
Getting there
Xianghuang Banner is about 260 km in a straight line from central Xilingol League. Search for 镶黄旗 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →More in Xilingol League
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Some facts checked against 镶黄旗 (内蒙古) — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.