Ulan Buh Desert

Open all day

Free admission

The Ulan Buh Desert in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia, forms an interconnected landscape of desert and Yellow River waters.

Spring and summer

To be confirmed

In 1997, Wuhai was served by one major railway trunk line, the Baotou–Lanzhou Railway. There were 18 arterial highways in total, including National Highway 110 from Dengkou to Mahuanggou and National Highway 109 from Qipanjing to Shizuishan. The annual passenger transport volume reached 1.9418 million person-times, with freight volume hitting 11.1647 million tons. Specifically, the railway carried 311,800 passengers and 2.4147 million tons of cargo; highways transported 1.63 million passengers and 8.75 million tons of goods.

Ulan Buh is a Mongolian term meaning "Red Bull". The desert spans the territory of Alxa League and Bayannur League in Inner Mongolia. It stretches north to the Langshan Mountains, east close to the Yellow River, south to the foothills of the Helan Mountains, and west to the Jilantai Salt Lake, covering a total area of approximately 10,000 square kilometers.

It features a temperate arid climate with sharp temperature differences between day and night. The southern part of the desert is dominated by shifting sand dunes, the central area by ridge-shaped dunes, and the northern region by stabilized and semi-stabilized dunes.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, large-scale desertification control projects were launched here. A windbreak and sand-fixation forest belt with a width of 300 to 400 meters and a length of 175 kilometers was constructed. Zones enclosed for sand stabilization and grass restoration extend 5 kilometers on both sides of the forest belt, curbing the eastward expansion of the desert. Besides tree and grass planting, more than 200,000 mu of cultivated land has been reclaimed within the desert.

Boasting abundant sunshine and numerous lakes, the Ulan Buh Desert serves as an ideal destination for desert expeditions, sightseeing, camel riding and other desert tourism activities.