Zhengxiangbai Banner 正镶白旗

Setting and landscape

The banner falls into three bands: the Hunshandake Sandy Land (浑善达克沙地) in the north, low hills and grassland in the middle, and a farming plain in the south. Grassland covers most of the land, followed by woodland, and the economy mixes herding with farming, with herding the larger part.

History

The Plain White and Bordered White banners of the Chahar Mongols were both set up in 1635, named after the colours of Qing army flags: all white for one, white with a red border for the other. From 1761 they answered to the military governor at Zhangjiakou (张家口). In 1945 the Plain White Banner governed 18 companies from Hanahada Temple (哈那哈达庙), and the Bordered White Banner 16 from Baga Hailigen (巴嘎海力根). They merged in March 1949 as a joint banner, which took its present name in 1956, and joined Xilingol League in 1958.

The banner government names three local figures: Mingantu (明安图), an 18th-century Mongol mathematician, surveyor and astronomer; the Tibetologist, historian and calendar scholar Luobusheng Zhulitumu (罗布生朱力图木); and the writer Yixidanjin Wangjila (伊希丹金旺吉拉).

What to see

On the grassland near Mingantu town stands the Mingantu Observing Station (明安图观测基地) of the National Astronomical Observatories. Its 100 white dish antennas form a solar radio spectroheliograph, which Xinhua calls the grassland's "sky eye" (天眼). The National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences lists a Mingantu field station, set up in the banner in 2008, with this 100-antenna array and two 20-metre dishes among its instruments. The banner has a museum, which doubles as its cultural relics centre, and an Ulan Muqir (乌兰牧骑) touring troupe.

Getting oriented

The league government puts Mingantu about 400 kilometres from Beijing, from Hohhot (呼和浩特) and from the Erenhot (二连浩特) border crossing. The Jining–Tongliao railway (集通铁路), with a Zhengxiangbai station, and national roads G5511 and G510 run east–west through the banner, and provincial road S222 runs north–south.

Highlights

• Mingantu Observing Station 明安图观测基地: Solar radio spectroheliograph of 100 white dish antennas on the grassland near Mingantu town.
• Mingantu 明安图: 18th-century Mongol mathematician, surveyor and astronomer from the banner; the seat bears his name.