Baotou

Baotou, China

The largest city of northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of today came into being as a nondescript small town only in the 17th century. Thanks to its rich deposits of rare earth, it's now China's heavy industry giant producing steel, machinery and military equipment.

Getting around

• Xilamuren Grassland

  The 1700-meter-high prairie is a rolling ocean of green. Fleecy clouds hover across a huge sky. Flocks of birds flit overhead. It's a scene of shocking beauty.

• Aerding Botanical Garden

  A walk around the city's “Green Lung” yields eye-opening experiences of a dramatic plant world and plants cultivation.

• Saihantala Park

  Poplars and willows flourish on this expansive swathe of natural meadows. In summer, gentle breezes rustle clumps of grass, shrouding the place in poetry.

• Engebei

  It's a scenic area with lush grass. Ancient earthenware fragments and fortifications are embers of its turbulent past.

• Meidaizhao

  Built in the 16th century, the holy site of Tibetan Buddhist worship features over 1600 square meters' worth of Buddhist iconography which depicts the social, political and religious transformations of the region during the Ming period (1368-1644).

• Nanhai Wetland

  The water and the grass-smothered boggy land are the residues of the Yellow River after the river changed its course. Mount Qing looms to its north and the Yellow River slithers its way to its south.