With lush green grass, blooming wildflowers, mushrooms scattered across the land, herds of cattle and sheep, winding rivers like silver ribbons, and starry skies above, the vast Xilingol Grassland spans thousands of miles of fertile plains, forming a magnificent Thousand-Mile Grassland Scenic Boulevard within this ocean of green. From June 22 to June 27, 2018, the Xilingol Grasslandwelcomedthe “Hundred Cars Self-Drive Tour Across the Thousand-Mile Grassland Scenic Boulevard” and the tourism theme event “Experience Obo Culture and Roam the Vast Grasslands.” Nearly 300 self-drive enthusiasts from 102 vehicles in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region gathered at the Canglang Tribe in Taibus Banner, delivering a grand self-driving feast for the local grassland people.Self-drivetour enthusiasts
The event was divided into four major themed self-drive tours: the Charity Tour, the Gourmet Tour, the Off-Road Tour, and the Leisure Tour. The Charity Tour visited Bianqiang Village, Houwayao Gacha, and Duolun Dashila Village in Taibus Banner, where participants raised funds. The Gourmet Tour mainly took place in Taibus Banner and Xilinhot City, where visitors enjoyed authentic Mongolian whole roasted lamb, hot pot lamb, hand-held lamb, blood sausage, milk tea, milk tofu, Mongolian buns, oat noodles, potatoes, and horse milk wine, as well as Grassland King liquor. Eating meat and drinking freely brought great joy to tourists from Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei. The Off-Road Tour traversed the Hunshandake Desert in Zhenglan Banner, where off-roading represents a spirit and an attitude—instilling reverence for nature while also teaching how to better protect it. The Leisure Tour was the highlight of the event, especially the two key experiences: the Sky-Edge Grassland Ulagai and the Wulan Wutai Obo Worship Naadam Festival. The ecological preservation of Ulagai Grassland earned high praise from participants. Moreover, while the western and southern grasslands were just beginning to turn green amid early dryness, Ulagai Grassland was already a sea of green dotted with flowers. The Obo worship and Naadam activities at Wulan Wutai allowed visitors to closely experience the bold spirit of Mongolian men and the deep cultural roots of Mongolian Yuan heritage.
In terms of terrain and landforms, the Xilingol Grassland features a variety of grassland types distributed from west to east, including desert grassland, sandy grassland, typical grassland, and meadow grassland. It is the most comprehensive region in China in terms of grassland types and vegetation diversity. As the birthplace of Mongolian Yuan culture, the Xilingol League boasts rich grassland cultural tourism resources, profound historical and cultural heritage, and well-preserved Mongolianfolkcustoms. It is known as the “Cradle of Wrestling Champions,” the “Home of Mongolian Long Tune,” the “Capital of Ethnic Costumes,” the “Source of Nomadic Culture,” and holds the honorary title of “China’s Horse Capital.”
According to Wu Rutenashun, Director of the Xilingol League Tourism Development Commission, the Xilingol Thousand-Mile Grassland Scenic Boulevard connects 23 major scenic areas across seven banners, cities (districts) of the league. The main route stretches approximately 600 kilometers from south to north, with plans for 12 provincial and league boundary entrances and gateways, as well as 45 service stations of various types and levels. The route uses the vast grasslands of Xilingol as its foundation, horse culture as its core driving force, and highlights the exclusivity and uniqueness of Xilingol tourism as its central goal. It showcases the integrated advantages of grassland water towns, Mongolian Yuan culture, horse culture, corps culture, and historical sites, integrating high-quality tourist attractions and routes. Leveraging natural resources such as mountains, waters, rivers, grasslands, and forests, and using thematically designed service stations as nodes, the Thousand-Mile Grassland Scenic Boulevard has been developed into a diverse tourism corridor composed of varied natural landscapes and multiple folk culture elements, becoming a world-renowned golden tourism and leisure belt.
Li Guanjie, the overall commander of this Hundred Cars Self-Drive Tour Across the Thousand-Mile Grassland Scenic Boulevard, stated, “Self-drive enthusiasts from Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and all over the country still have a relatively basic understanding of the Xilingol Grassland. Many think the Xilingol Grassland is just grassland, without knowing about its various types, cultures, or stories. Only in the vast grassland can one find a thousand-mile scenic wonder. The Xilingol Thousand-Mile Grassland Scenic Boulevard is incredibly diverse and deeply rooted—it cannot be fully appreciated through just one self-drive route. Therefore, we specially arranged four themed self-drive tours for this event: the Charity Tour, the Gourmet Tour, the Off-Road Tour, and the Leisure Tour. With four themes, four timeframes, four routes, and four fleets racing across the Xilingol Thousand-Mile Grassland Scenic Boulevard, our aim is to help everyone gain a deeper understanding of the scenic boulevard and a clearer idea of how to explore it by self-drive. Of course, these four routes are just the tip of the iceberg. In the future, there will be more themed activities such as parent-child tours, photography tours, cultural tours, and farming-tourism tours coming to the Xilingol Grassland, allowing everyone to truly experience its beauty and charm. The launch of the Thousand-Mile Grassland Scenic Boulevard is a major boon for self-drive enthusiasts, pointing the way for even more travelers. We hope that more self-drive organizations and tourists will traverse the Xilingol Grassland in search of their own personal Grassland Sky Road.”