Inner Mongolia Overview

Inner Mongolia overview gives you overall information about Inner Mongolia location, transportation, climate, history, culture, travel tip, etc. Located in the north of China, Inner Mongolia is well known for its grassland tour among tourists.

Basic Information of Inner Mongolia

• Chinese Name: 内蒙古
• Location: North of China
• Provincial Capital:Hohhot
• Area: About 1,183,000 square kilometers
• Population: An approximate population of 24,700,000(in 2018)
• Minority: Mongolian, Han, Manchu, Hui, Daur, Ewenki, Oroqen, Korean, Xibo, Tujia, Dongxiang, Miao, etc.

History of Inner Mongolia

Every nation has its own national heroes, and Mongolia is no exception. The great hero Genghis Khan is not only a household national hero in Inner Mongolia, but also has made great contributions to Inner Mongolia. He is an outstanding statesman and strategist in the history of the world. Born in the upper reaches of Onon river (now Kent Province of Mongolia) on the Mobei grassland, he was named Temujin. In the spring of 1206, He led the nation and established it as the emperor. Since then, he had launched many wars of conquest to conquer the Black Sea coast of Central Asia and Eastern Europe in the west. He died in 1227 when conquering Xixia and was buried in Qilu Valley of Kent Mountain in Mongolia. Speaking of Genghis Khan's contributions, there are three main ones: first, the unification of Mongolia and the establishment of Mongolia which had laid a solid foundation for Mongolia's future development; second, the ending of the long-term tangled warfare in the Mongolian Plateau, the third is to create Mongolian characters. All these made great contributions to the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty.

Inner Mongolia Geography

Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is located in the northern frontier of the People's Republic of China and extends obliquely from northeast to southwest, forming a long and narrow shape. With a total area of 1.183 million square kilometers, accounting for 12.3% of China's land area, it is the third largest province in China. The east, south and west of Inner Mongolia are adjacent to Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia and Gansu provinces accordingly, crossing three northern regions(northeast, north and northwest) and close to Beijing and Tianjin. It borders Mongolia and the Russian Federation in the north, with the border line of 4200 kilometers long. Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has a relatively high terrain, with an average altitude of about 1,000 meters. It is basically a plateau landform area. The landform of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region features in the Mongolian Plateau, with complex and diverse terrains. Excluding the southeast, it is basically a plateau, accounting for about 50% of the total land area. In the transition zone from mountain to high plains and plain, there are loess hills and rocky hills, which are mixed with low mountains, valleys and basins, causing serious soil erosion.

Inner Mongolia Climate

Inner Mongolia is one of the coldest regions in China with an average daily high temperature of only 10 degrees centigrade. Due to its vast territory, with large plateau area far away from the sea, the climate is mainly featured by temperate continental monsoon climate, with major characteristics of sharp rise in spring temperature, windy weather, short and hot summer with concentrated precipitation, sharp fall in autumn temperature, early frost, long and severe winter.

Best Time to Visit Inner Mongolia

The best time to travel in Inner Mongolia grassland areas is in summer, especially from July to September, while the best time to travel in Inner Mongolia desert areas is in autumn. However, the whole region spans a large longitude and there are certain differences between the eastern and western climates. Therefore, different seasons should be chosen for different destinations.

Administrative Divisions of Inner Mongolia

As of late 2017, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has jurisdiction over 9 prefecture-level cities, 3 leagues (totaling 12 prefecture-level administrative divisions), 23 municipal districts, 11 county-level cities, 17 counties, 49 banners and 3 autonomous banners (totaling 103 county-level administrative divisions). The government seat of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is located Saihan District, Hohhot City.

9 prefecture-level cities: Hohhot city (呼和浩特市), Baotou city (包头市), Wuhai city (乌海市), Chifeng city (赤峰市), Tongliao city (通辽市), Ordos city (鄂尔多斯市), Hulunbuir city (呼伦贝尔市), Bayannur city (巴彦淖尔市), Ulanqab city (乌兰察布市).

3 leagues: Hinggan League (兴安盟), Xilingol League (锡林郭勒盟), Alxa League (阿拉善盟)

Ethnic Culture of Inner Mongolia

Minorities in Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is home to 49 ethnic groups, including Mongolian, Han, Manchu, Hui, Daur, Ewenki, Oroqen, Korean, Xibo, Tujia, Dongxiang, Miao, etc. Among them, the Han population is 19,650,687, accounting for 79%; the Mongolian population is 4,226,093, accounting for 17% while the population of other ethnic groups is 829,541, accounting for 4%. Hui and Manchu have a population of over 100,000. 

Festivals and Activities in Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia is a place full of prairie culture and nomandic customs, the festivals and activities in Inner Mongolia also well embodies its regional features. Besides Traditional Chinese Festivals like Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, There are also some other small ethnic festivals in Inner Mongolia such as Mongolian New Year, Nadam Festival, Aobao Festival, Bonfire Festival, Commemoration for Genghis Khan, Zhaojun Cultural Festival, etc. 

Food Culture in Inner Mongolia

Traditional Mongolian food is found throughout Inner Mongolia. Meats, especially lamb, form most meals, and are divided into the Red Food category while the dairy produce such as milk, yoghurt and cheese are put into the White Food category. In local custom, White Food is the highest treat to their guests.

Mongol Stringed Instrument

Morin khuur (马头琴), or horse head instrument, The structure of Mongol stringed instrument is simple, including a thin and long body as well as a fiddle bow. It can be played solo, duet and concerto. Its sound is deep, booming and sonorous.

Inner Mongolia Transportation

With years of rapid development and construction, Inner Mongolia now enjoys a very convenient transportation, tourists can get to Inner Mongolia via airplanes, trains and buses. Read more about Inner Mongolia Transportaion to learn more about how to get to and get around Inner Mongolia.

Best Places to Visit Inner Mongolia

Hohhot

Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is a famous national historical and cultural city where 41 ethnic groups, including Manchu, Hui, Korean, Ewenki and Daur, live in a concentrated community. It has many ancient relics, including Zhaojun Tomb (昭君墓) , Five Pagodas  Temple (五塔寺), and White Tower(白塔). Hohhot is also famous for barbecue and the production of mushrooms and hops.

Hulunbuir

Hulunbuir, firstly known to the world for the Hulun Lake and Buir Lake, is home to 42 ethnic minorities including Han, Mongolian, Hui, Manchu and Korean. Hulunbuir is also famous for its grassland which is one of the four major grasslands in the world and known as “the best grassland in the world”. The highlights in Hulunbuir include Hulunbuir Grassland, Genhe Wetland(根河湿地), Hulun Lake, Buir Lake, Hulunbuir Nationality Museum,  Mammoth Park(猛犸公园), Zhalanaor Museum(扎赉诺尔博物馆), Golden Horde Mongolian Tribe(金帐汗国蒙古部落), Aoluguya Ewenke National Township( 敖鲁古雅鄂温克民族乡),etc.

Ordos

Boasting totally different scenery with the other parts of China, Ordos is a place with grassland and desert. Besides the natural scenery, the civilization here can be titled as “the culture on the horse”. Ordos is a place with grassland and desert, providing tourists with grassy scenery and desert expereincing activities. There are tourist attractions such as Ordos Grassland, Yijinhuoluo Grassland, Xiangshawan (Whistling Dune Bay), Kubuqi Desert and Mausoleum of Genghis Khan, etc.

Natural Resources in Inner Mongolia

Forest Resources

From east to west, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is endowed with Daxing 'anling primeval forest region and 11 secondary forest regions. According to the results of the seventh forest resources inventory in 2013, the forestland area of the whole region is 660 million mu and the forestry area is 373 million mu, ranking first in the country with a forest coverage rate of 21.03%; Artificial afforestation covers an area of 97.32 million mu. The total volume of living standing trees is 1.484 billion cubic meters, and the forest volume is 1.345 billion cubic meters, ranking 5th in the country. Natural forests are mainly distributed in 11 secondary forest areas such as the original forest area of Daxing 'anling in Inner Mongolia and the mountainous area in the southern part of Daxing 'anling. Plantations are spread all over the region.

Mineral Resources

Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is the province with the most new minerals found in China. Since 1958, China has discovered more than 50 kinds of new minerals recognized in the world, 10 of which are found in Inner Mongolia. Baotou Baiyunebo Mine is the largest rare earth mine in the world. By the end of 2015, there were 17 species with the highest reserves in the country, 43 species in the top 3 and 85 species in the top 10. Rare earth resources have been found to be the largest in the world. The total estimated resources for coal exploration in the whole region are 851.880 billion tons. The region's coal reserves are 411.065 billion tons, accounting for 26.24% of the country's total, ranking first in the country. Gold reserves in the whole region are 688.86 tons of gold and 48817 tons of silver. Copper, lead and zinc have a total reserve of 50.4118 million tons.

Water Resources

The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has 107 rivers with a watershed area of more than 1,000 square kilometers. There are 258 rivers with river basin of more than 300 square kilometers and nearly a thousand lakes of different sizes. The surface water resources in the whole region are 40.660 billion cubic meters, and the total water resources are 54.595 billion cubic meters, accounting for 1.92% of the total water resources in the country. The region's annual average available water resources is 28.5 billion cubic meters, including 17 billion cubic meters of surface water and 11.5 billion cubic meters of groundwater. The annual per capita water consumption is 2200 cubic meters, and the average water consumption per hectare of cultivated land is 76,600 cubic meters. The distribution of water resources in Inner Mongolia is very uneven in areas and time-histories, which is not suitable for the distribution of population and cultivated land. The Heilongjiang River Basin in the eastern region accounts for 27% of the total land area, 20% of the cultivated land area and 18% of the population, while the total amount of water resources accounts for 67% of the total area, and the per capita amount of water resources is 3.6 times of the average value of the whole area. The West Liaohe River, the Hailuan River and the Yellow River in the central and western regions account for 26% of the whole area, 30% of the cultivated land and 66% of the population. However, water resources only account for 24% of the whole area and are in short supply in most areas.