❄️ Although Xilingol League is covered in silver during winter, it’s bursting with “snowy” excitement! Every winter, grand events like the “Grassland Ice and Snow Festival” and “Ice and Snow Nadam” are held🔥, along with the thrilling “Ice and Snow Adventure” self-driving activities that ignite the winter spirit!
☃️ Early winter has arrived, and the first snow has fallen in Xilingol League, marking the season for the ice and snow adventure. Why not start your engine and drive to Xilingol League to experience the charm of crossing the ice and snow! 👉 Routes have been arranged for all drivers, please check them out!
📌 Ice and Snow Adventure Route:
🚙 Beijing → Duolun Lake Scenic Area → Duolun County Automobile Countryside Park → Xilingol Grassland Volcanic Geopark → China Horse Capital Core Cultural Ecological Tourism Area → Return trip.
🌟 Highlights Along the Route
✔ Duolun Lake Scenic Area
A 41-kilometer loop around the lake featuring grasslands, sandy areas, hills, and forests. Lakeside offers farmhouses and hotels for dining and accommodation, where you can experience traditional grassland entertainment.
✔ Automobile Countryside Park
The park’s loop is about 29 kilometers long, featuring five major landscapes: desert, hills, grassland, forest, and marsh. The crossing journey is exciting and thrilling!
✔ Grassland Volcanic Geopark
Located south of Xilinhot city, covering Baiyinkulun Ranch and Beilik Ranch, it boasts vast Xilingol grassland scenery and volcanic geological relics. The park has diverse volcanic landforms, each unique and spectacular!
✔ Horse Capital Core Area
Here you can turn off your engine and get off to fully enjoy food, drinks, and entertainment. Watch equestrian shows, horse racing, and Ulan Muqir performances, try horseback riding and archery, join bonfire parties, savor Mongolian feasts, and even stay in a Mongolian yurt!
📌 Must-Try Winter Foods
✔ Steaming Mongolian Morning Tea
🍵 A day in Xilingol starts with morning tea. Xilingol morning tea offers a rich variety, with the soul of the tea being “Mongolian milk tea,” made by boiling green brick tea with milk, salt, and tea whisking, combined with millet, butter, cheese curds, and milk skin. It has a rich milky aroma, smooth texture, and a slightly salty taste that leaves a lasting impression!
🍖 The “red foods” paired with the milk tea are even more abundant, including hand-pulled meat, beef knuckle bones, lamb spine bones, lamb chops, blood sausage, and oil-wrapped sausage. In winter, sitting around the stove, drinking milk tea in big gulps and chewing lamb meat heartily is pure joy!
✔ Heartwarming and Stomach-Warming Lamb Hot Pot
🐑 Xilingol’s lamb hot pot uses “ginseng of meat,” Sunite lamb. Sunite lamb is a Chinese geographical indication product, known for being odorless, with thick and firm meat, high protein, and low fat, making it perfect for hot pot.
♨️ In winter, you can order a copper hot pot with clear broth, prepare your dipping sauce, and start cooking! High-quality Sunite lamb slices don’t break easily in the pot. After cooking, dip them lightly in sauce to retain the original flavor. The taste is fresh, sweet, tender, juicy, and gets more delicious the more you chew!
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❄️ The winter excitement in Xilingol League has just begun, with various large-scale winter events coming up. Stay tuned, ❤️ and friends from all over the country are warmly welcome to come and explore by self-driving!
(Some images sourced from Trip.com Traveler @ Backpacker’s Notes)
Post by The Seas of Grass - Xilingol Cultural Tourism | Jun 26, 2025
