Xilinhot 锡林浩特市

Setting and landscape

The ground rises from a gently rolling plain in the north to low hills in the south, mostly between 1,000 and 1,300 metres, with Han Ul (汗乌拉) at 1,699.9 metres the highest point. The Xilin Gol River (锡林郭勒河) runs through the middle of the city's territory in a basin with marshes, and the larger lakes include Chagan Nur (查干淖尔). The climate is continental and semi-arid, with a January mean of −18.8°C and a July mean of 21.2°C.

What to see

Beizi Temple (贝子庙), given the Qing name Chongshan Temple (崇善寺), is a Gelug Tibetan Buddhist monastery below Erdeni Obo hill (额尔敦敖包山). It was founded in 1743 by Banzhuer Duoerji (班珠尔多尔济), the fourth ruling prince of Abahanar Left Banner, and enlarged in 1783. By the Jiaqing reign it held more than 1,500 lamas. It was badly damaged during the Cultural Revolution, and by about 2010 only five of its seven main halls remained. The city government notes that it became a national heritage site in 2006 and a national 4A tourist area in 2008.

Erdeni Obo (额尔敦敖包), a cairn at the northern edge of the city, has a Mongolian name meaning "treasure mountain". The Pingdingshan volcanic group (平顶山火山群) is a row of more than ten hills with flat, knife-cut tops, formed by eruptions and strewn with basalt blocks. The city also lists the Xilingol Museum (锡林郭勒博物馆), the Xilin River National Wetland Park (锡林河国家湿地公园), and the Baiyin Kulun relict gull reserve (白银库伦遗鸥自然保护区) on the Baiyin Kulun ranch in the south of the city.

Food and local products

The city government's list of local food starts with Mongolian morning tea: brick tea boiled with milk and salt, served with fried millet, butter, milk tofu and milk skin. Sour mare's milk, called cege (策格), is made by fermentation. Xilingol mutton is eaten as hand-held boiled meat (手把肉) with garlic and vinegar, or cooked against hot volcanic stones. Herders air-dry meat in baskets woven from red willow from the Hunshandake Sandy Land (浑善达克沙地).

Getting oriented

Xilinhot borders East Ujimqin Banner (东乌珠穆沁旗) to the north, West Ujimqin Banner (西乌珠穆沁旗) to the east, Abag Banner (阿巴嘎旗) to the west and Hexigten Banner (克什克腾旗) of Chifeng (赤峰) to the southeast. It has an airport, a railway to Duolun (多伦), and the Dandong–Xilinhot Expressway (丹锡高速公路) and national roads 207 and 303.

Highlights

• Beizi Temple 贝子庙: Gelug monastery founded in 1743; national heritage site from 2006.
• Pingdingshan volcanic group 平顶山火山群: More than ten flat-topped volcanic hills scattered with basalt blocks.
• Erdeni Obo 额尔敦敖包: Cairn at the northern edge of the city; the name means "treasure mountain".
• Sour mare's milk 策格: Fermented mare's milk listed among the city's foods.