Tourist products

1. Helan Mountain Buddhism Pilgrimage Tour

　　Helan Mountain is famous for its beautiful primeval forest ecological scenery and rich Tibetan buddhism culture, where the Helan Guangzong Temple (the south temple) Ecological Tourism District and the Fuyin Temple (the north temple) Ecological Tourism District are two big tourist areas integrating Tibetan buddhism culture with natural landscape. Embraced by mountains and green grass cushions, the tourism districts are calm, clean and pleasant. Temples are built among mountains with an imposing appearance where one can hear monks reading aloud buddhism scriptures. The temples are built clinging to the mountain, along mountain rocks on both sides of the temple gate one can watch numerous colorful buddhism portraits, the biggest of its kind in the Inner Mongolia. It is believed that Guangzong Temple is the place to pray for luck while the Fuyin Temple is one to pray for fortune.

2. Desert Ecological Holiday Tour

　　Located in the south-eastern part of Alxa League with an area of about 30,000 square kilometers, the Tenggeli desert is the fourth largest of its kind in China. Among those, developed tourism spots at present the Moon Lake, Tong Lake and Swan Lake are the biggest, of which Moon Lake is the most influential spot for desert ecological holiday tourism and exploration camping, while the Tong Lake is a fresh water lake in the desert with unique natural scenic spot for tourists to spend their leisure time and holidays.

3. Strange Form Geographic Sightseeing Tour

　　Natural geographic environment in Alxa League has created many unique, marvellous views mainly including the Habucigai Strange Hoodoos and Aulunbulage Dream-like Canyon in Alxa Left Banner and Erribugai Big Canyon and Haisenchulu Strange Stone Park located in Alxa Right Banner.

4. Rock Painting Probe Tour

　　There are more than 4600 rock pictures among Mandela Mountains in the southern periphery of Badain Jaran desert located in Alxa League, which according to textual researches were drawn by northern minority nationalities such as Qiang, Rouzi, Xiongnu, Xianbei, Uigur, Dangxiang and Mongolian. Contents of rock paintings mostly include hunting, herding, fighting, Buddhism gods, the sun, the moon, stars, temples, dancing competition and amusement, vividly recording people’s production, life, cultural formation, natural environment, social style and features of the district in the remote antiquity worthy to be called the ancient art gallery in the North-western region of China.

5. Autumn Diversiform-Leaved Poplar Enjoying Tour

　　Being an ancient plant species, diversiform-leaved poplar is praised as living plant fossil. It is believed that poplar can live up to a thousand years, would never fall down for a thousand years after death and never get rotten for a thousand years after falling down. During Autumn when poplar tree leaves become golden, the forest would present extremely beautiful sight, it is an ideal place for sightseeing, photo taking, holiday spending, scientific research and ecological tours.

6. Juyan Visiting Ancient Culture Tour

　　Located in an area covering 60 square kilometers at downstream of Ejina River in Alxa League, the Juyan ruins are important large scale relics of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the contents of which are involved with politics, economy, military affairs, religion, languages, literature, east-west cultural exchanges, ecological environment changes and many other scientific fields. All the relics are precious for textual researches. The relics are mainly unearthed from Heicheng, Hongcheng, Lucheng, Datongcheng, and Jiaqusai, among which Heicheng represents an ancient city ruins left over from Xixia State, an important constitutive part of the Juyan culture。

7. Badain Jaran Desert Exploration Tour

　　Badain Jaran Desert has a whistling sand area, the biggest one of its kind in China, where multiple lakes are densely concentrated. The desert is appraised by Magazine <China Geography> as the first of the five most beautiful deserts in China and recommended by the State National Tourism Administration and China Association for Scientific Expendition as one of the 17 most representative destinations for exploration tours.

8. Folk Culture Collecting and Photo Taking Tour

　　The State desert geology park in Alxa League - Badain Jaran desert and State grade two protection plant - diversiform leaved poplar are cradles for photo amateurs and scenic tourist spot for travelers to spend leisure times and holidays.

9. Touring with car driven by yourself

　　Alxa League boosts vast area, convenient transportation system, unique and mysterious tourist resources, as a result exploration tour along the northern silk route becomes the first choice for numerous amateurs touring with cars driven by themselves. In addition, Wurisi and Ejina car camping sites are also available in the League.

10. Visiting Farming and Animal Husbandry Families Tour

　　The tour is aimed at making use of the unique natural environment, local customs, production and life style to provide tourists with dining, lodging, leisure time spending, sightseeing, amusement and shopping activities, through which tourists can experience thick custom feelings of local nationalities..

11. Nationality Custom Tour

　　In Alxa, many nationalities are inhabited including Mongolian, Han, Hui, Manchurian, Tibetan, among which the Mongolians in Alxa are composed of Alxa Heshuo Te Tribe, Ejina Turehot Tribe, Qalq-a Tribe from the Outer Mongolia and various tribes from the eastern part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It is here that people can experience Alxa nationality language, words, their moving about in search of pasture, fineries and adornments, songs and dances, dining, national etiquettes and various nationality cultures.

12. Main Tourism Festival Activities

(1) China Ejina International Autumn Diversiform Leaved Poplar Ecological Tourism Festival
Time: in September
Venue: Diversiform leaved poplar main meeting site
Contents: The theme is focused on “Alxa - the mysterious land of China” and “When poplars are beautiful during Autumn, traveling in Juyan, in the North of the Great Wall” with celebration items including: national culture and sports performance competition, special sightseeing tour, exhibition to promote sales, photo art competition, economy and trade talks and many other colorful activities which shall demonstrate the beautiful natural scene, long cultural history and rich national style.
(2) Alxa Hoodoo Culture Tourism Festival
Time: In September
Venue: Bayanhot City, Alxa League
Contents: During the festival following activities shall be arranged: Demonstration and prize awarding over hoodoos and natural crystals, various theatrical performance parties, unique national culture display, sports performance show, photo exhibition, demonstration of nationality handicrafts.
(3) Badain Jaran Desert Culture Tourism Festival
Time: in September
Venue: Badain Jaran District in the Badain Jaran Desert Geology Park
Contents: The theme is to propagate “The Vast and Mysterious Desert Scene and Demonstrate Rich Nationality Cultural Accumulation”. During the festival theatrical performances, sports athletic competition, desert exploration and going across the desert, economy and trade talks, investment and commercial discussions, exploration and scientific research, photos and folk art demonstration shall be held.
(4) Touring Festival with car driven by yourself
Time: in June
Venue: Wurisi Prairie Culture Tourism District (with car camping site)
Contents: Alxa League is the best place to tour with a car driven by yourself. Special efforts have been made to form “A Golden Tourism Route for Exploration Traveling with Your Car Driven by Yourself Across the Mysterious Land in Alxa - Along the Ancient Northern Silk Road”.
(5) Temple Fair
Time: June 3 to 6 (Chinese traditional calendar)
Venue: Helan Guangzong Temple Tourism District and Helan Fuyin Temple Tourism District
Contents: Mountain climbing, buddhism affairs, scripture reading aloud, sacrifice obo
(6) The seventh night of the seventh lunar month –China Lovers Festival
Time: July 7 (Chinese traditional calendar)
Venue: Tenggeli-Dalai ? Moon Lake Desert Ecological Tourism District
Contents: During the festival special, tourism activities shall be held as follows: making sand paintings in name of “Join in Hands for Permanent Love”, signatures made for memento in name of “Jointly Row Across the River of Love and Make Heart to Heart Talk”, concert held with a theme on “Hand in Hand to Conclude Ties for Eternal Love” and “Boundless Love on the Moon”, classical films are reshown in name of ‘reunion in the former days, open cinema’.
(7) Clove Festival
Time: In May
Venue: Helan Guangzong Temple Tourism District
Contents: During the festival clove display, tree planting, Helan Mountain landscape photos contest, nationality performance, mountain climbing competition, going on a buddhism pilgrimage.
(8) Alxa League International Camel Festival
Time: in December
Venue: Alxa Left Banner
Contents: Alxa is called ‘home of camels’. During the festival there will be camel riding competition, camel taming performance, wrestling of camel herders and other performances.
(9) Malian Flower (Iris ensata Thunb) Festival
Time: in May
Venue: Luanjingtan Beach Ecological Garden
Contents: Shalibur type wrestling, motorcycle team performance, visiting the Zhaohua Temple, sand controlling station, Leguminosae Scenery District and Mongolian Almond Scenic Spot.

13. Local specialties

(1) Local specialty: crystal jewelries, crystal eyeglasses, Helan ink stone, Mongolian silver bowls, fine spinning camel hair products which are made with exquisite and careful workmanship, not only cheap but of good quality as tourist souvenirs.
(2) Alxa League rugs modeled after antiques: Superb wool is selected for rugs made with exquisite workmanship which are plain, colorful, lofty, with rich local artistic style and enjoy worldwide reputation.
(3) Desert cistanche: a famous and precious Chinese traditional herb, praised by people as desert ginseng which is of mild nature, used for invigorating the kidney, fortifying sexual organs and lubricating intestines. It is very effective for hypertension, arthritis and rheumatism.
(4) Hoodoos: produced from Yinshan mountain chain in the north of Alxa, Badain Jaran desert and Wulanbuhe desert. Being famous for its quality, forms, grains and rhyme, it integrates ancient style with strange, precious and scarce characteristics and is worthy to be praised as the best quality goods which as if had gathered essence of the world and congealed makings of the nation.
(5) Sand paintings: a special artistic products in Alxa made with natural yellow sand to create colorful artistic paintings which would bring people fresh and esthetic feelings.