How to visit Badain Jaran Desert « China Travel Tips

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Badain Jaran Desert (Tips, Photos & Map)

Friday, February 25th, 2022

Plan your Inner Mongolia tour? Inner Mongolia is large and extensive, covering an area of 1.183 million square kilometers , three times the size of Japan. So, basically it is difficult to travel the major sites on a single trip. If you are interested in history and unique landscape, a trip to Western Inner Mongolia is highly recommended.

Hohhot to Ejin Banner (Dalaihubuzhen) 2000km round trip

A visit to West Inner Mongolia, or specifically Alashan (Alxa) League, has long been one of my dreams. This beautiful dream has come true this October.

Check out my another article Top 10 Attractions in Alxa League, Inner Mongolia for more travel information on Alxa League.

We (together with other 6 travellers) made a round trip drive from Hohhot to Ejina Qi ( Ejin Banner), an over-2000 km crazy drive, passing by Yinshan Mountains（阴山山脉） and Kubuqi Desert 库布齐沙漠 , through Ulan Buh Desert 乌兰布和沙漠 and Badain Jaran Desert (巴丹吉林沙漠).

The 2000km round trip from Hohhot to Ejin Banner and back to Hohhot (Google)

Our starting city is Hohhot, the capital city of Inner Mongolia. We first drive to the west along the four-lane Expressway No.06, a national freeway.

Drive along the four-lane Expressway No.06 starting from Hohhot

Now we are driving through Ulan Buh Desert ( 乌兰布和沙漠). Ulan Buh Desert is located between Alxa League and Bayannur League in Inner Mongolia. “Ulan Buhe” in Mongolian means “red bull”.

Now we are driving through Ulan Buhe Desert ( 乌兰布和沙漠)

“Ulan Buhe” in Mongolian means “red bull”.

Ulan Buh Desert reaches to Langshan Mountain in the north, the Yellow River in the east, the foot of Helan Mountain in the south and jilantai Salt Pond in the west, covering an area of about 10,000 square kilometers . It is the northeastern part of the Alxa Desert, at the northeastern bottom of the Yinye Basin.

ABC of Badain Jaran Desert

Badain Jaran Desert is definitely the highlight of the adventurous drive. Badain Jaran Desert boasts the highest stationary dunes in the world (the tallest dune over 450 meters, extending over 5 km in length) and the third largest desert in China with an area of over 49,000 sq.kilometers.

Badain Jaran literally means ” mysterious lakes” in Mongolian. As its name suggest, Badain Jaran Desert is dotted with over spring-fed 140 lakes. All the lakes reside among the gigantic sand dunes, creating the most mesmerizing desert landscapes in the world.

In addition to the megadunes and lakes, Badain Jaran Desert is mainly composed of barren and sandy desert, a combination of solid bedrock, loose gravel and a few oases with limited vegetation growing.

Badain Jaran Desert Tourism Area (Google Map)

The desert officially open to the public tourism is called Badain Jaran Desert Tourism Area. It is located about 150km northeast of Badan Jilin Zhen ( the seat of Alxa Right Banner) and 450km west of Bayanhaotezhen, or Bayanhao Town ( the seat of Alxa Left Banner )

Drive on the north edge of Badain Jaran

Driving along the provincial highway No.312 allows people to have a glimpse of the north edge of Badain Jaran Desert.

Though unable to enter the heartland of Badain Jaran Desert, a visit to its northern rim does give us a real feel of the mysterious and beautiful desert.