Inner Mongolia Travel Notes | From Hulunbuir to Aershan

14 days from Hulunbuir to Aershan, satisfactory in every aspect, love Inner Mongolia.

The old rules, no pictures and no spoilers of the itinerary, dedicated to everyone.

 

D1 Shanghai to Hailar (via Hohhot), pick up the car

D2 Mozhgrad River, Ergun Wetland, Birch Forest, Dagen River

D3 Aoluguan reindeer hometown, arriving at Shiwei Linjiang

D4 Mordaoga National Forest Park, passing through the En River and arriving at the head of Heishan Mountain

D5 Arrive in Manzhouli

D6 National Gate, Matryoshka Hotel, Hulun River

D7 Arrive at Aershan National Forest Park

D8 Aershan National Park East Line

D9 Aershan National Park west line, arriving at Chaihe River

D10 Tongxin Tianchi, Shidawan, landscape rock murals, Moon Tianchi, arrive at Aershan City

D11 Aershan Railway Station, Bailang Peak

D12 Arrive at Hailar

D13 Mozhgrad River

D14 Return the car, Hailar returns to Shanghai

 

Before introducing the attractions and precautions in turn, let me say two things:

1. Probably due to the impact of the epidemic, some roads are being repaired indiscriminately, and some roads are in particularly bad condition, especially in Aershan. Therefore, our itinerary was not particularly perfect. Some roads were under construction, so we had to go back and forth on the same road, causing detours. When will it be repaired? Other roads may be repaired next year. Aershan may be repaired in three years.

2. Hulunbuir is quite big! In fact, during our fourteen days, only the three-day itinerary of Aershan City, the southern line of Aershan Park, and Bailang Peak belonged to Xing'an League, and the rest of the itinerary was still in Hulunbuir. Hulunbuir is actually Hulun Lake and Bell Lake. Hulun Lake is 35 kilometers south of Manzhouli, and most of Bell Lake is in Mongolia.

D1 Shanghai to Hailar (via Hohhot), pick up the car

Arrive at Hailar and go to the car rental company to pick up the car. Due to road conditions, you must rent a four-wheel drive.

In the evening we had a delicious meal at the Lubri restaurant.

 

D2 Mozhgrad River, Ergun Wetland, Birch Forest, Dagen River

Starting in the morning, the Mozhgrad River was very beautiful and winding. We went to a wild viewing point on the 002 rural road and climbed up a small hillside. The scenery was good. When navigating, look for Muyun Mountain Peak, which is a section east of Muyun Mountain Mountain. Because D13 specifically went to the Mozhgrad River, you can see D13 for details.

The Ergun Wetland is very beautiful. It has a beautiful museum and a relatively long trail that allows you to have a panoramic view of the wetland.

The birch forest is one of the most beautiful scenic spots on this trip. It exceeded expectations. The dense birch trees along the hillside are very romantic. It is recommended to spend more time in the Birch Forest Scenic Area.

Arrive at Genhe in the evening, also known as China's cold pole. The extreme low temperature record is minus 58 degrees. I had the iron pot stew, the portion was very large, and the cake was delicious.

 

D3 Aoluguan reindeer hometown, arriving at Shiwei Linjiang

The Land of Reindeer is also a must-visit attraction that I recommend. In addition to understanding the culture of the Evenki people and getting up close to the big-horned reindeer, the most important thing is to eat the most delicious deer milk Leba here, which is fragrant and soft, and has fermented wine. The cake tastes fragrant and sweet. I regret that I only bought one. I won’t be able to eat such delicious cakes in the rest of my trip. If I go there again, I will have to buy ten.

Today's journey was relatively long. Due to road construction, we could not go directly to Mordaoga. We took a turn back and took a detour to Shiwei.

In the evening, we ate at the famous Misha restaurant in Shiwei Linjiang. The kvass was the best I had ever tasted along the way. The kvass, riba, chicken stewed with mushrooms, and potato balls were all very delicious.

 

D4 Mordaoga National Forest Park, passing through the En River and arriving at the head of Heishan Mountain

The road at the entrance of Mordaoga Park is simply one of the worst three sections we encountered this time, and if you drive on a self-driving route, you have to go back and forth three times on this road. We may have broken two brake lights on this section of the road. Later, I was caught by the police and fined 100 yuan.

There are two lines in Mordaoga Park, one is by self-driving and the other is by train. Each has its own flavor. The scenic spots on the self-driving route are all great, close to the Daxinganling Mountains, and very free; but taking a small train is also very special. The two lines do not overlap, and the small train may run every fifty minutes, so it is recommended to take the small train first. At the end of the self-driving route is Bailu Island, which looks like Horseshoe Bay. It should be particularly beautiful in all seasons. Unfortunately, we were unable to go there due to road construction and closure.

After coming out of the park, we passed by Enhe River at night. Enhe River was very lively, but the restaurant was not good, maybe because there were so many people, it changed the taste.

Then we drove to Heishantou, passing through Ergun City on the way, which was bustling in the dark. When we arrived at Heishantou, we stayed at the July B&B. The owner and his sister were nice people, and the accommodation was unique and nice.

 

D5 Arrive in Manzhouli

Due to the rain, some activities such as grass skiing and horse riding at Black Mountain Head were canceled, as well as the Ribbon River attraction.

Along the border, we passed by the Adut nomadic tribe and rested in a yurt. The yogurt and freshly squeezed milk were particularly delicious, and the fried dough sticks were also crispy. It was worth going in and resting.

After arriving in Manzhouli, you still have to eat Lubri.

Manzhouli at night is just like Vegas. It suddenly becomes a strange place in the dark, and the architecture is very exotic. You can go to the Matryoshka Doll Hotel, which is particularly beautiful.

 

D6 National Gate, Matryoshka Hotel, Hulun River

You can check out the National Gate Scenic Spot. From time to time, long trucks slowly drive from here to Russia. I bought a lot of chocolates at the duty-free shop. Russian chocolates tend to be sweet, so the shop owner is good at recommending which ones are delicious.

During the day, you can go into the Matryoshka Doll Hotel to look at the interior, which is also very interesting.

In the afternoon, we went to Hulun Lake. There is an official Hulun Lake scenic spot 35 kilometers away from Manzhouli. It is said that it is not very good. By some mistake, we believed in the Amap and went to a wild attraction 70 kilometers away, which is a wildlife reserve. However, the guard was very kind and only reminded us not to bring food in and that we could walk in to enjoy the scenery. Although it is a wild scenic spot, there are not many people and the scenery is very good. The speed limits on the highways coming and going are only 40 and 70, so be careful when driving.

In the evening, we ate at Katyusha restaurant, which was not as good as Lubri, but overall good.

 

D7 Arrive at Aershan National Forest Park

There are many speed limits on the road, so it takes almost six hours to reach the gate of Aershan National Park. Then from the gate to the Tianchi service area in the mountains, it is the second of three sections. The average speed of the car is only 20, and it takes two hours to reach it.

For accommodation, we chose a B&B in the Tianchi service area. There is a heated kang. The landlady was very nice and heated the kang for us in advance. It was very, very comfortable.

After dinner at the Yujiale Hotel, we went to the Bu Dong River Viewing Point to watch the stars.

 

D8 Aershan National Park East Line

It is recommended to take the bus in the Tianchi service area because the road conditions are very poor. Tour the east route: Tuofengling Tianchi, Grand Canyon, Dujuan Lake, and Shitang Forest. Aershan Park is one of the most beautiful scenic spots in this trip. It is beautiful in summer, and it is speculated to be even more beautiful in golden autumn and winter. However, the mountains on the eastern front will be closed in winter, so it shouldn’t be possible to play. On the eastern route, Tuofengling Tianchi and Dujuan Lake are most recommended. Dujuan Lake will be full of azaleas two months ago, which may be more beautiful.

My companion visited the road in Aershan two years ago. This time, my feeling is that although it is being repaired, it is worse than two years ago. I asked the hostess of the hotel and she said that it may take three years to repair it. After all, it is winter. It should be impossible to go into the mountains to build roads.

In the evening, we went to the Bufrog River Viewpoint to watch the sunset, which was beautiful.

In the evening, I had beef pot at Tianchi Hotpot. It was very tender free-range beef and mutton. I highly recommend giving it a try.

 

D9 Aershan National Park west line, arriving at Chaihe River

In the morning, we visited the Western Route: Tianchi, Santan Gorge, and Dichi. You have to walk up a very long staircase to Tianchi. It is very beautiful in autumn but average in summer. Dichi is a small crater, relatively round, with very few people. Compared with the Eastern Front, the Western Front in summer is a bit average.

Then drive across the park from the east line, along Mo'a Highway, to Chaihe Town in Zhalantun. Although it was only a hundred kilometers, it took almost three hours to drive because the roads in the park were so bad.

 

D10 Tongxin Tianchi, Shidawan, landscape rock murals, Moon Tianchi, arrive at Aershan City

Near Chaihe Town, we visited Tongxin Tianchi, Shidawan, and landscape rock murals. All are good. You can go up to the Wangniu Mountain Shangxin Peak to look down at Tongxin Tianchi. The scenic spot is under construction; you can also go to the edge of the pool for a closer look. Shidawan is also under construction. It looks okay, but it is not ranked high in the entire itinerary. The landscape rock paintings with columnar jointed volcanic features are quite good and worth a visit.

Then we found that there was no way to go around the scenic area from Chaihe to Aershan City, so we still had to go back the same way and cross Aershan Park again.

Fortunately, we crossed again and went to the separate Moon Tianchi scenic area outside the park. This is the Tianchi, the roundest crater in the world. It is very beautiful and worth walking up the long, long steps. The photo is on the cover of this article.

Then cross the park, pass through a very bad mountain road again, exit the park from the west, and reach Aershan City.

Close to Aershan City, there are many well-built plank roads and viewing platforms on the roadside, including Wuli Spring.

For dinner, we had a home-cooked meal at a small town family banquet. The owner and his wife were very nice, and the food was very delicious. We went there three times in two days.

 

D11 Aershan Railway Station, Bailang Peak

Aershan City is very small, but very beautiful. The citizens' aesthetics have reached a new height. They are all small houses with spires, which are very beautiful.

The small train station in Aershan is also the most beautiful and smallest train station in the country and is worth a visit.

The White Wolf Peak Scenic Area in the southeast of Aershan is highly recommended. In fact, you can park underneath and it costs 50 yuan per person to drive up to the scenic area with an off-road vehicle, which is safer. We didn't know this at first and drove up by ourselves, thinking that we would see more scenic spots by driving ourselves. However, in fact, the scenic spot is still under construction. Except for the top of the mountain, other scenic spots have no signs and are not obvious, so they can be ignored. The scenery on the top of the mountain is super good. If the weather is clear, it will really be worth your time.

 

D12 Arrive at Hailar

Pass by Qixian Lake and arrive at Hailar.

We visited the night market in the evening, which was very nice. We ate at the No. 1 Solonga BBQ restaurant and visited Genghis Khan Square.

 

D13 Mozhgrad River

I went to the Ethnographic Museum in the morning, which was quite interesting.

In the afternoon, I was thinking about the last day and still wanted to take another look at the Mozhgrad River. Throughout the winding Mozhgrad River, except for one official viewing area that is currently closed (due to road construction or the impact of the epidemic), there are three places close to the 002 rural road that are suitable for viewing.

From east to west, the first place is the small slope we visited on the second day. We found that there is actually a dirt road that can be driven up. The 270-degree view is super wonderful. See the picture at the end of the article; the second place is the one with four thousand a night. Muyun Peak Wild Luxury Hotel costs 100 yuan per person to enter. If you go in to eat, the lunch is only 500 per person. The third place is a pasture, which has been fenced off and cannot be entered.

The last twenty kilometers from Rural Road 002 to National Highway 332 is the third of three sections. I could hardly find the road while driving. Of course you can also take a three-hour detour. But the road is being built now and may be completed next year.

 

D14 Return the car, Hailar returns to Shanghai

After breakfast, Lubri packed two cheese bags, returned the car, and flew back to Shanghai.

 

 

Special recommendations:

Lubri Restaurant: The best Russian restaurant in the Northeast. There are restaurants in Hailar and Manzhouli. The dishes are generous and the taste is not overwhelming. The most recommended are cheese buns, steak, sturgeon caviar, red cabbage soup, and mixed vegetable soup.

Nomintala Milk Tea: The best breakfast shop. There are stores in Hailar and Manzhouli. Don’t go to the one in Aershan. We recommend milk tea, yogurt cake, and beef soup dumplings.

Tianchi hot pot: In the Tianchi service area of ​​Aershan Park, free-range cattle and sheep are extremely tender, paired with Aershan beer.

Deer milk Leba from the Ewenki reindeer land: I regret not buying ten.

 

 

Attached photo: Mozhgrad River