Hulunbuir is a vast land that differs from any other China cities you may imagine. It is a sparsely populated grassy area and a vast wilderness and has more camels and cattle than cabs and more sheep than shepherds. Grasslands, wetlands and forests are the most attractive wonders of this land. And it is rich in unique Russian flavor and nomadic culture. The public transportation system is relatively poor here, because it is really hard to build efficient bus lines in this large grassland and wetland region, let alone the metro lines. For the visitors, you may find it is very difficult to plan a perfect trip in Hulunbuir. However, don’t worry, this article is going to help!
So, how to plan a Hulunbuir tour? Our Hulunbuir Trip Planner will introduce you everything about Hulunbuir trip plans, including the weather and best time to visit, how to get there and travel around, top attractions and things to do, days to spend, hotels and where to stay, etc.
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Hulunbuir belongs to the continental climate. It has hot and rainy summer, chilly and dry winter and relatively short spring and autumn. The weather here is most pleasant in summer and autumn. Spring is also good, but it may have occasional sandstorms. Months from mid-May to late-September are considered to be the best time to visit the wetlands and forests in Hulunbuir.
Spring in Hulunbuir is a season about waking up. The ice are going to break and the snows by the riverside are gradually melting. However, it seems that Hulunbuir won’t wake up till the last part of this season. The nearby forests are mostly still in frozen. There is little green in the grassland. Sometimes, the city may be attracted by sandstorms.
Summer is the best and most popular time to visit Hulunbuir. During this season, the grassland is in emerald green and the sky is usually in amazing blue with beautiful white clouds. It will be hot, however, never too hot expect the noon hours. Hulunbuir will then become a popular place to escape the summer heat in the city. The grand Naadam Festival will be held in this season.
Autumn in Hulunbuir is short. It usually starts from September, and may end in October. The summer heat disappears and is followed by pleasant autumn weather. The golden landscape of the nearby forests and wetlands is amazing, and attracts flocks of photographers to come.
Hulunbuir is cold in winter. The rivers are frozen over. The temperature in Genhe City of Hulunbuir can even drop to -50℃. You will get a white Hulunbuir, because all of its grassland, wetland and forest are covered by pure snow and ice. There will be an annual Winter Naadam Festival held in December.
▶ Helpful Link: Hulunbuir Weather & Best Time to Go
Amazing Hulunbuir Grassland & Morigele River in Summer
Eerguna Wetland in Autumn
Visit Aoluguya Reindeer Village in Summer
Hulunbuir is located in the northeastern most of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The best way to get there is by flight. You can also get to Hulunbuir by train or car.
Visitors can get to Hulunbuir from many domestic cities like Beijing (2.5 hrs), Hohhot (2.5 hrs), Harbin (1.5 hrs), Shenyang, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Dalian, Ningbo, Zhengzhou, Xiamen, Wuhan, and also international destinations like Chita in Russia, Choybalsan in Mongolia, Tokyo in Japan, etc.
The airports in Hulunbuir include Hulunbuir Dongshan International Airport and Manzhouli Xijiao International Airport. Hulunbuir Dongshan International Airport is more popular chosen, because it has more frequent flights and is closer to the Morigele River, the landmark of Hulunbuir Grassland. However, if you want to get to/leave Hulunbuir in Manzhouli, you can also check the flights to/from Manzhouli Xijiao International Airport.
Address: Airport Street, Hailar District, Hulunbuir City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China (海拉尔东山机场，内蒙古呼伦贝尔市海拉尔区机场大街), about 8.5 kilometers and 20 minutes away from Hailar downtown
Address: Jichang Road, Manzhouli City, Hulunbuir City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (呼伦贝尔市满洲里市机场路), about 7 kilometers (10 minutes around by car) from Manzhouli downtown
Hulunbuir Baita International Airport
Hulunbuir has no bullet train or bullet train stations. For budget independent travelers, you can get there by normal train from Harbin (9~24.5 hours), Beijing (30 hours), Zhengzhou (40.5 hours), etc. The trains depart from or arrive at Hailar Train Station.
Address: No.60, Kaoshan Street, Hailar District, Hulunbuir City, Inner Mongolia (内蒙古自治区呼伦贝尔市海拉尔区靠山街60号), about 3 kilometers and 10 minutes away from Hailar District.
Hailar Station
For those who prefer to the self-driving tours or long China private car tours, you can also chose to driver to Hulunbuir. Beijing, Changchun, Harbin and Chengde will then be good choices to start such leisurely tours, which takes at least one week.
▶ Helpful Link: Hulunbuir Transportation >>
Hulunbuir Grassland is the best grassland under earth. It always ranks on the top of prairie to go in China. Videos and pictures of hundreds of zigzag rivers winding through the vast grassland, with sheep, horses and camels grazing around, sweep the network and attract numerous visitors to come. The landmark is the driving road by the beautiful Morigele River, where you will get the best view of the grassland, river, sky, hills in a distance and the moving animals and shepherds. Other parts from the grassland are also appealing, and it is really a great experience to enjoy driving tours along the road in between the grasslands.
Hulunbuir Grassland
Heishantou is located at the northwest part of Hulunbuir Grassland. It gathers the best tribe clusters with different levels of Mongolian Yurts for visitors to stay overnight. Besides, there has the most professional ranch for visitors to try horse riding and galloping with the help and accompany of experienced coaches. The sunset view at a nearby hill is also the best of this region.
Mongolian Yurts
In addition to the grasslands, Hulunbuir also boasts somewhat the best wetlands in China - Ergun Wetland, or called Erguna Wetland. In the wetland, rivers flows on the beautiful meadows. By the riversides are the bushes and shrubs of different types, with flowers and white birch trees swaying in the wind, which is very impressive and awe-inspiring. In the wetland scenic area, you can follow the well-built wooden trails to get panorama views of the stunning landscape. September is the best time to visit it, because the golden view is extremely beautiful, while summer with lush green is also good.
Eerguna Wetland in Summer
If half of Hulunbuir is grassland, another half is forest. Greater Khingan Mountains, somewhat the most beautiful forest cluster in China, mostly belongs to Hulunbuir. In Hulunbuir, you will meet with Mordaoga National Forest Park - the largest forest park in China and Aoluguya Reindeer Village - a lovely tourist site of reindeers and Ewenki culture built on the former residence of the Ewenki people - the last hunters in China.
A Lovely Reindeer at Aoluguya Reindeer Village
Due to the close distance to Russia and the history reasons, nowadays in Hulunbuir, especially along the Ergun River at the border of China and Russia, you can taste a strong atmosphere of Russia. There are even Shiwei Russian Town and Enhe Russian Town waiting for your steps, where you can try to live in the Russian-style mukeden houses, sample Russian foods and snacks and feel the Russian traditions and culture.
Shiwei Russian Town
▶ Helpful Link: Hulunbuir Attractions >>
Usually, visitors spend 4~9 days in Hulunbuir.
| Travel Plan | Features | Itinerary |
|---|---|---|
| Plan A | Naadam Festival (only available in June~ July & December) | D1: Hulunbuir Arrival D2: Naadam Festival D3: Hulunbuir Grassland + Ergun Wetland + Shiwei Russian Town D4: Haur River Scenic Area + White Birch Forest |
| Plan B | Hulunbuir Essence with Grassland Exploration | D1: Hulunbuir Arrival D2: Hulunbuir Grassland + Ergun Wetland + Shiwei Russian Town D3: Haur River Scenic Area + White Birch Forest + Heishantou (Mongolian Yurt, Horse Riding, Sunset) D4: Hulun Lake + Manzhouli Matryoshka Plaza D5: Hulunbuir National Museum |
| Plan C | Hulunbuir Essence & Greater Khingan Highlights | D1: Hulunbuir Arrival D2: Hulunbuir Grassland + Ergun Wetland D3: Russian Family Visit + Aoluguya Reindeer Village D4: Mordaoga National Forest Park + Shiwei Russian Town D5: Haur River Scenic Area + White Birch Forest + Heishantou (Mongolian Yurt, Horse Riding, Sunset) D6: Hulunbuir National Museum |
| Travel Plan | Features | Itinerary |
|---|---|---|
| Plan A | Hulunbuir Essence & Arxan UNESCO Global Geopark | D1: Hulunbuir Arrival D2: Hulunbuir Grassland + Ergun Wetland D3: Aoluguya Reindeer Village + Shiwei Russian Town D4: Haur River Scenic Area + White Birch Forest + Heishantou (Mongolian Yurt, Sunset) D5: Heishantou Horse Riding + Hulun Lake D6: Manzhouli Matryoshka Plaza D7: Arxan UNESCO Global Geopark D8: Arxan UNESCO Global Geopark D9: Hulunbuir Departure |
(Note: the above travel plans include the arrival in Hulunbuir one day ahead.)
Hulunbuir is fantastic, but Inner Mongolia has more to offer. Many visitors prefer to visit Hulunbuir and the great Kubuqi Desert near Hohhot together, which takes 6 days or so.
Besides, some visitors also like to spend 3 days around to Xilingol to explore the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site of Xanadu and nearby grassland and volcanic landform, 4 days around to Ejina Populus Euphratica Forest for photography, 3 days around to Badian Jaran Desert for adventurous camping and desert crossing, 1~2 days to Chifeng to discover the Hexigten Global Geopark and Liao Culture…
Kubuqi Desert Jeep Sarifi
In addition to Hulunbuir and the whole Inner Mongolia, you can add a bucket of more choices to your trip. The best options include Beijing - the capital with fabulous ancient Forbidden City and Great Wall, Datong - one of the earliest dynasties to adopt Buddhism as their state religion with charming Yungang Grottoes and Hanging Temple, Shanghai with magic charm to see modern China, Xian with world awesome Terracotta Warriors, Zhangye with spectacular rainbow mountains and easy access to Silk Road culture, etc. Besides, you can visit Chengdu with adorable pandas, to Guangzhou with featured Lingnan culture and delicious Cantonese food…
The diverse China is waiting for you! No matter you are nature lovers, history fans, photography enthusiasts or hiking aficionados, China always has something for you. Please feel free to contact us and tell us your likes, we can customize a tour with your say!
▶ Helpful Links: China Destinations | Top 10 China Tours
Lush Summer Scenery at Mutianyu Great Wall
There are 5 best areas to stay in Hulunbuir. The most popular choices include the hotels in Hailar District and the Mongolian yurts in Hulunbuir Grassland. Hailar is the best choice for the first or last night in Hulunbuir, because it is the city center and is close to the airport of this region.
Staying overnight at a yurt is a must-try, which is also one of the reasons to visit this grassland area. You can also accommodate in the unique Russian-style Mukeden houses in Shiwei or Enhei, the Russian Towns. In addition, you can choose a hotel in Ergun City, Manzhouli City, Genge City or Mordaoga Town according to your travel plan.
Hailar has many good hotels, including about 5 luxury hotels of 5-star hotel, 7 luxury hotels of 4-star, and over 300 budget hotels of 3-star and 2-star. The luxury options are not that many, please book your hotel in advance.
Many tribes in the grassland have Mongolian yurt clusters for you to stay, while the ones near Heishantou Town are the best picks, including Hongjila, Turgus, etc. Those yurts are not that luxury as you expect. However, most of them have a private bathroom in the yurt and offer relatively comfortable bed, tables, chairs, etc. Each of the tribe has different levels of yurts. You can choose the ones with your budget and preference.
Mukeden houses in Shiwei Russian Towns and Enhe Russian Towns are the typical Russian folk houses. The insider and outsider of the houses are usually made of trees in brown or brownness color. The nowadays Mikeden houses are not that basic. You can find power supply, airport conditioner, hot water, TV and more in the room. However, thry are still of only 2 star and are always in limited.
Manzhouli has abundant of choices. It even has more 4-star luxury hotels than Hailar. Besides, it has the only Shangri-La Hotel of this region - Manzhouli Shangri-La Hotel. The price of hotels in Manzhouli is relatively high. However, the price guarantees the quality.
No matter you want to travel from Hulunbuir Grassland to further north to Shiwei Russian Town, or go east to Aoluguya Reindeer Village, Ergun City is a good stopover for your trip. However, do not dream a lot about the hotels there. It has only one 4-star hotel in the city, Ergun Hotel. All the rests are of 3-star and 2-star.
Genhe City and Mordaoga Town are hidden in the forest of Greater Khingan. Hotels there are very basic and limited. In Genhe, you can only find 3 hotels of 3 star, with all the others are of 2 star. Things get worse at Mordaoga Town. There are only 2 hotels of 3 star. However, if you have plans to visit the Mordaoga National Forest Park and Aoluguya Reindeer Village, you may require to stay overnight at a hotel of the two.
▶ Helpful Link: Where to Stay in Hulunbuir
Where to Stay in Hulunbuir
Hulunbeir Hotel
Mongolian Yurt
Mukeden Houses
Forest Ice Hotel in Genhe City
Visitors heading to Hulunbuir and Inner Mongolia usually get a tour package from experienced travel agencies in advance. This relatively large province is not that friendly for independent travelers because of the language barriers and widely distributed attractions. We China Discovery are experienced in planning Hulunbuir and Inner Mongolia Tours. We also give perfect suggestions about China Inner Mongolia Tours for our customers. If you go with us, our guide will accompany you all the way and introduce you the best history, scenery and accommodation of this region. Our local driver will escort you to travel around in speed and convenient with the help of licensed private car. The tour is customized according to your interest, time, budget and every special need. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us to customize and start your worry-free private tour now!
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Top 3 Hulunbuir tours chosen by most customers to explore Hulunbuir in the best way. Check the detailed itinerary, or tailor your own trip now with us.
Hulunbuir / Erguna / Manzhouli / Hulunbuir
Hailar (Hulunbuir) - Erguna - Shiwei- Manzhouli - Arxan - Hailar (Hulunbuir)
Hailar / Hulunbuir Grassland / Erguna / Greater Khingan Range/ Shiwei / Heishantou / Hailar
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