呼伦贝尔市

Why this place

Hulunbuir is the largest city in China by area, and its grasslands are the finest in the country: rolling green thousands of square kilometres wide, with rivers meandering through and almost nothing built. If you want to understand what the steppe meant to Chinese history, this is where to look.

What to see

• Hulunbuir grassland — ride, or just drive and watch the horizon stay empty
• The Erguna and Mohe river country, and the wetlands of the Genhe
• Manzhouli, a border town with Russian architecture and a huge gateway into Siberia
• Hulun Lake and the Buir Nur on the Mongolian border

What to eat

• Roast lamb and boiled mutton — the grassland standard
• Milk tea, milk curd, and Russian-influenced bread in Manzhouli

How to plan

A week if you have it — Hulunbuir is enormous and the roads are long. Three days covers the core grassland loop.

Best time

July–August; the grass is green for a short season and it is cold from October

Practical tips

• Distances are huge: plan on a car and driver, not public transport
• The Naadam wrestling and horse-racing festivals happen in July and August