Bai'erye Sandbar Nature Reserve

Bai'erye Sandbar Nature Reserve

Bai'erye Sandbar Nature Reserve

Bai'erye Sandbar Nature Reserve is located 35 kilometers south of Helinge’er County beside National Highway 209, and 75 kilometers from Hohhot City. Situated between the Hun River and the Guli Banji River, this tourist area is a nationally renowned model for successful desertification control and afforestation. Twenty years ago, this place was still a vast expanse of shifting sand dunes. Through painstaking management efforts, 120,000 mu of desert have been transformed into an oasis. Today, the reserve features shaded woods and shimmering lakes, with well-equipped resort facilities, making it an ideal destination for tourism and summer retreat.

Bai'erye Sandbar is a typical hilly sandy area. With an altitude ranging from 1,100 to 1,400 meters, it experiences cold and dry winters, hot summers, scarce and concentrated precipitation, and high evaporation rates. The average annual temperature is 5.6°C, with annual precipitation at 391.6 mm and evaporation at 2,340 mm, classifying it as a mid-temperate, semi-arid continental monsoon climate.

Bai'erye Sandbar was once one of the most severely affected areas by wind and sand in Helinge’er County. Starting in 1982, Comrade Yun Fuxiang, then the county head, personally led a professional team of 120 youths. For over a decade, through hard work and dedication, they effectively managed 85,000 mu of shifting and semi-shifting sand dunes and 35,000 mu of soil erosion areas. The preserved area of afforested and grass-planted land reached 120,000 mu, including 43,000 mu of trees, 53,000 mu of shrubs, and 23,000 mu of artificial and enclosed grasslands. There are over 100 species of plants, setting an example for desert control in China and even the world.

Since the implementation of the Natural Forest Conservation Program, forest management and protection have significantly strengthened, ensuring effective conservation of the forests and grasslands in Bai'erye Sandbar.

The ecological environment has greatly improved, with a notable increase in wildlife population, gradual enhancement of biodiversity, and forest and grass coverage exceeding 85%.