Baotou, Inner Mongolia: Where the sand dunes sing

There exists a paradise where the chilly wind and the blue sky embrace you like a silk blanket. In this paradise, the desert sun warms your skin to your delight and the moonbeam shines brightly into the night like a phoenix.  In the middle of the dusty sand lies modern luxurious hotels and resorts that are way beyond your imagination. Shooting stars command the heavens to look towards you as you make a wish to your heart’s content. Here, you will feel the presence of yesterday’s culture and the promise of a progressive development.

This is Inner Mongolia—where desert tourism is an attraction. The autonomous region of Inner Mongolia looks like a long and narrow colorful picture scroll threading the east and west, revealing its splendor and grandeur. Four core tourist regions have been elaborately mapped out in the beautiful city. One of them is Baotou.

In Baotou, we explored a most amazing development called the Resonant Sound Bay, which has several resorts. We visited a five-star resort called Desert Lotus Hotel (with a big swimming pool) in the middle of the dessert. It was so majestic we thought the sand surrounding it was singing a welcoming tune for us when we got there. After a cable car ride through the sandy dunes, we finally reached the Resonant Sound Bay in the Kubuqi Desert, Dalad Banner of Ordos City, Inner Mongolia. It is situated at the easternmost borderline of desert in China and is called the Head of Dragon Desert. Han Tai Chuan River flows in front of it and Gu Zi Liang Mountain faces to the other side of the bank.

The Resonant Sound Bay is 110-meter high with a slope of 45 degrees where the huge crescent-shaped sand hills can create loud echoes. Dunes stand side-by-side and stretch endlessly to the further skyline. When you climb to the top with a ladder and then slide downwards, you will hear roaring echoes as if an aircraft is taking off near you. If you hold a handful of sand and squeeze them, you will make a frog-like sound. This is how Whistling Dune Bay (another name of Resonant Sound Bay) has been named. And this is how desert tourism is very popular in Inner Mongolia. The Desert Lotus Hotel is a scintillating development in the middle of this place and will surely leave you mesmerized. 

Located in Western Inner Mongolia, Baotou Prefecture covers an area of 27,768 square kilometers (10,718 square miles), with a population of around 2.6 million. A 214-kilometer (133-mile) stretch of the Yellow River runs through the prefecture. Baotou is the largest city in Inner Mongolia, and one of the important industrial bases of the country. The city’s name means “place with deer” in the Mongolian language, hence the city has the nickname “Deer City.”

Our trip to Inner Mongolia began with a comfortable five-hour trip aboard China Airlines from Manila to Beijing. From Beijing, after an hour and a half, we landed in the city of Huthot (I will talk about it in my next column) in Inner Mongolia. Together with travel agents from Binondo in Chinatown namely Gene Gan of Everyday Travel, Angeline Ymaz of Goldlink Travel, Raymond Michael Tee of Horizon Travel, Cherie Bautista of Pan Pacific Travel, Irene Jean Chua of Panda Travel, Cheng Yuefeng of SOTI Travel, and Cristine Ong of Uni-Orient Travel. We eagerly awaited our trip to Huthot then to Baotou, modern cities in the heart of the province. We were feted by the glorious combination of Air China and Shangri-La Hotels. Glenn Pineda of China Air and Sharon Yau of Shangri-La Hotel Hong Kong led our group.

Our group gave Inner Mongolia a collective adulation for the beauty of its environs. Our hearts beat with excitement as we stepped out of the train or bus. We discovered that from the magnificent Genghis Khan Mausoleum to the Wudangzhao Lamasery (the largest Tibetan monastery in Inner Mongolia), Baotou is a destination that rewards the curious traveller.

One of the best rewards of traveling to Baotou is experiencing Mongolian hospitality. Shangri-La Hotel in Baotou, nestled at the very center of the city, did not disappoint at all when it comes to extending utmost hospitality.

You arrive at the hotel from the train station in only 15 minutes and from the airport in only 30 minutes. As you please, a gracious staff escorts you to your luxurious room. One can also travel by bus from Huthot like what we did. Baotou has a convenient transportation network that links with many major cities in China.

Though you are enticed to explore the city, your room is equally alluring. It vows an elegant experience with contemporary and grand settings.

Look out your window and appreciate the exhilarating view. Below is the enormous Yinhe Square with its charming fountains. The scene is pure bliss.

The hotel’s convenient location makes it ideal to explore Baotou. Just 15 minutes away is China’s biggest inner city grassland of Saihantala. At the scenic city center, a delightful assortment of bars, teahouses and cafés beckon.

 Just before dinner, a brisk walk takes you through the shady trees and fragrant flowers of Aerding Botanical Gardens, only five minutes from the hotel.

Back at the hotel, the dining options are sumptuous. There’s Shang Palace, which serves delicious and authentic Cantonese, Hunan, Huaiyang and Mongolian cuisine. Xin Café provides a delectable range of international dishes, served in a dynamic open-kitchen where guests interact with the enthusiastic chefs. We were feted with a welcome and farewell dinner at Shangri-La Baotou by General Manager Jerry Yu and his attentive team where we enjoyed the traditional Mongolian singing and dancing. We even had breakfast in the presidential suite of the hotel.

Baotou is rich in ethnic and tourist resources. The best time to visit Baotou is during summer and autumn, when the weather is pleasant, and the grassland is in the best condition.

Baotou belongs to the semi-arid continental climate, with cool and favorable summers, and long cold winters. Located at an altitude of 1,500 m, the weather here is dry with strong sun exposure. The savviest travelers protect themselves with hats and sunscreen and they hydrate themselves always.

We were told that the best time to visit Baotou is from summer to autumn (June to October). Temperatures vary a lot within any given day, jackets and pants are necessary at cool morning/evening hours of summer, and sweaters in spring or autumn. Since the rain comes with strong wind, raincoats are more advisable to use than umbrellas.

The Mausoleum of Genghis Khan, 185 km (115 miles) south of Baotou City, is the most famous sight. This is a sacred place where Mongolian people gather to remember the legendary hero, Genghis Khan, the establisher of the Mongol Empire.

Wudangzhao Lamasery, located 70 km (43.5 miles) northeast of Baotou, is the largest and best-preserved Tibetan Lamasery in Inner Mongolia. Meidaizhao Lamasery is unique in layout, as it is more like a walled city, with temples, royal palaces and city gates. Both are important centers for spreading Tibetan Buddhism in Inner Mongolia, and are of great importance for the study of the history, religion, and arts of Inner Mongolia.

Resonant Sand Bay offers you the unique experience of hearing the sand sing! The reason for this natural phenomenon is still a mystery to the world. Muslims can visit and worship at Baotou Great Mosque in the city center.

The best way to experience Mongolian traditional customs is to ride a camel in the vast desert or grassland, visit or live in the Mongolian yurts, drink a bowl of hot milk tea, enjoy a meal of finger mutton, and listen to Mongolian folk songs. All these will get you closer to the life and culture of Mongolian herdsmen.

Baotou in Inner Mongolia will arrest your senses in an exhilarating way. The city, with its chilly wind and blue sky, shooting stars and singing sand dunes, never fails in its promise to leave you spellbound.

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For more information, call Air China at +02.808.6777 or email mnlsales@airchina.com visit their website www.airchina.com.ph.

Email the author at miladay.star@gmail.com.