What Are the Top Ten Special Local Products of Baotou?

Naked oat flour, a signature specialty of Guyang County, ranks among Guyang’s three treasures. Grown in Guyang’s original ecological environment, the crop is cultivated by farmers using traditional farming methods without chemical fertilizers or pesticides. It is purely green, pollution-free, boasting a unique flavor and abundant nutrients, making it a premium nutritional health food.

Guyang naked oat is an annual herb that tolerates cold and drought with a long growth cycle, thriving in high-altitude frigid zones. It features slender pointed leaves, pale green blossoms, and slender awns on its spikelets, with edible grains. Among all grains, naked oats contain the highest levels of protein and fat, plus phosphorus, iron, calcium, vitamins and many other nutrients. Oat flour is processed from naked oats and refined into various foods. Guyang naked oat products are widely recognized as the finest in Inner Mongolia, earning the reputation that “Guyang naked oats stand unrivaled under heaven”.

Nanhai Wetland Scenic Area boasts precious wetland resources and abundant tourism assets, alongside a long history of fish farming. As early as 1958, Baotou Fish Breeding Station was established here, turning Nanhai Lake into a vital non-staple food production base of the city, with fresh lake fish constantly in short supply.

In 2012, Nanhai Lake was certified as a pollution-free agricultural product production base by the Department of Agriculture of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. In the same year, aquatic products including carp, crucian carp and silver carp from Nanhai Wetland obtained pollution-free agricultural product certificates issued by the Center for Agricultural Product Quality and Safety under the Ministry of Agriculture of China. In 2014, the brand “Nanhai Golden-Fin Yellow River Fish” was recognized as a Well-Known Trademark of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Xiaowengong Garlic has a long planting history and has long been a staple home-grown vegetable for locals. In the early 1980s, several farming households in Laduijiu Village, Xiaowengong Township, pioneered garlic cultivation on their contracted farmland. The yield income of garlic was 2 to 3 times that of other crops, igniting a farming boom. Garlic cultivation spread rapidly across Laduijiu Village and the entire Xiaowengong Township, lifting local farmers out of poverty and into prosperity.

Xiaowengong Garlic features thin, plump cloves, consistent pure coloration and a pungent spicy taste, with greenish garlic bulbs. Its average nutritional indicators per 100 grams are as follows: protein 9.97 mg, fat 1.2 mg, vitamin C 100 mg, and allicin (total content of diallyl disulfide and diallyl trisulfide) reaching 71.1 mg.

Dameng Mutton is a distinctive local specialty of Darhan Muminggan United Banner, Baotou City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Geographical production scope: All administrative areas under the jurisdiction of 12 towns and sumus in Darhan Muminggan United Banner, including Mandula Town, Chaganda Sumu, Bayan Obo Sumu, Xilamuren Town, Ming’an Town, Darhan Sumu, Bayanhua Town, Xiaowengong Township, Xihe Township, Wukehudong Town, Bailingmiao Town and Shibao Town.

Dameng Red-Skinned Wheat is a signature agricultural product of Darhan Muminggan United Banner. Wheat milled from this variety yields chewy flour with a rich natural wheat aroma, high nutritional value and superior quality.

The Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce issued a trademark registration announcement, approving “Dameng Red-Skinned Wheat” as a registered geographical indication certification mark. It is the second geographical indication certification mark successfully registered in the banner, following “Dameng Grassland Sheep” registered back in 2008.

Exceptional water and grass resources, paired with unique grassland vegetation, endow Dameng grassland sheep with distinctive premium meat characteristics.

Darhan Muminggan United Banner lies north of the Yin Mountains, featuring a climate with synchronized rainfall and high temperatures, concentrated limited precipitation, and long hours of bright sunshine — ideal conditions for potato cultivation. The local soil mainly consists of chestnut soil and sandy loam, the perfect growing medium for potatoes. The land, water sources and air remain free of pollution, creating an optimal planting environment.

During the development of new countryside construction, based on analysis of local soil, climate strengths and market demand, the banner designated potato farming as one of its eight pillar industries driving local economic growth. Grown under favorable natural and market conditions, Dameng potatoes feature moderate, uniform sizes, regular tuber shapes and high dry matter content. The planting base has passed pollution-free certification, and potatoes are sold to major cities nationwide.

This grand Mongolian delicacy is only prepared for major festive and ceremonial occasions. As Mongolian chefs put it, nearly all meat on a sheep (excluding lamb legs) is concentrated on the lamb back, making this a substantial signature dish.

Chefs select the plumpest grassland lamb backs, marinating them for 24 to 36 hours with over thirty Chinese medicinal herbs such as Chinese angelica and natural seasonings. The marinated lamb back is then roasted for roughly two hours in a custom oven. Charcoal from wild apricot, peach, plum, birch and desert zaga wood must be used as fuel — only this way can the dish retain authentic original flavors infused with wild grassland herbal fragrance, completely free of mutton gaminess. The finished lamb boasts gorgeous color, tender aromatic meat, crispy exterior and juicy non-greasy interior, matching the old saying: “Even immortals crave a bite of fresh lamb in the sixth lunar month.”

Review: Taking huge mouthfuls of tender mutton paired with fine wine fills diners with bold, unrestrained pride and confidence.

A trip to Baotou feels incomplete without taking home a carpet, much like visiting Inner Mongolia without tasting mutton. Carpets are as iconic to Baotou as lamb meat is to the whole autonomous region.

Baotou was the first area in Inner Mongolia to weave carpets from sheep’s wool, with the famous Three-Blue Carpets as its representative craft. They are woven from wool dyed with indigenous natural indigo pigment produced by Baotou’s Fushengyuan Workshop. Legend states these carpets never fade; remarkably, their hues grow brighter and more vivid with age. Woven with three shades of blue — dark blue, medium blue and pale blue — Three-Blue Carpets rank among Baotou’s most popular tourist souvenirs.

Scientific name: Tricholoma matsutake. Matsutake mushrooms are pale yellowish-brown, covered with fine chestnut-brown scales, slightly convex at the center, with thick sturdy stalks and snow-white, dense tender flesh. Rich in crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber and various vitamins, matsutake delivers an exquisite delicious taste. It also offers health benefits such as invigorating the stomach, expelling parasites, regulating qi and dissolving phlegm, plus unique auxiliary therapeutic effects for diabetes, making it an ideal health food for middle-aged and elderly people