8 Days Inner Mongolia Snowland Winter Tour from Hailar

Arrive at Hailar Airport or Railway Station where your private guide meets you with a warm welcome. Transfer to your hotel and settle into the comfort of a heated room after stepping off the plane into crisp northern air. Stroll at your own pace to Genghis Khan Square in the heart of the city, where winter lanterns line the pathways and locals gather on cold evenings. Your guide recommends a neighborhood restaurant for your first taste of Mongolian cuisine — try the hand-pulled noodles or a warming bowl of milk tea.

Leave Hailar after breakfast and drive into the Hulunbuir grassland, where snow-covered pastures stretch to every horizon. Arrive at a traditional Mongolian ger camp and warm up with fresh milk tea. Try horseback riding across the frozen steppe, feeling the wind cut through the silence. In the afternoon, join snow activities — tubing down gentle slopes or walking crystalline trails. Evening brings hand-boiled mutton and fried millet, then sleep wrapped in blankets under a sky thick with winter stars.

Leave the grassland and drive south through forests heavy with snow-laden branches toward Arxan, a volcanic region on the Inner Mongolia–Heilongjiang border. The landscape shifts from open steppe to dense birch and larch woodland, each tree coated in white frost. Stop to photograph frozen rivers and snow-draped valleys. Arrive in the afternoon and head to the famous volcanic hot springs, where mineral-rich water heated underground waits. Soak in outdoor pools while snowflakes drift around you and steam rises into the cold air.

Explore Arxan Snow Village in the morning, where volcanic rock formations take surreal shapes under thick snow — twisted pillars, frozen waterfalls, and arches carved by ancient lava. Walk boardwalk trails through this winter wonderland, breath visible in the sub-zero air. After lunch, visit the Unfrozen River, a geological oddity where geothermal heat keeps water flowing even at -40°C. Watch mist rise from warm water and freeze on nearby branches, creating crystal formations unlike anything else. Return to the hot springs for a second soak.

Drive west across snow-covered grasslands toward Dali Nor Lake, one of Inner Mongolia’s largest inland lakes. Arrive at the frozen lakeside and meet local fishermen who maintain a centuries-old winter fishing tradition. Watch as they chip holes in thick ice and haul enormous nets through the frozen surface, pulling up silver carp and pike that sparkle in winter sunlight. This tradition peaks in January when ice is thickest. Warm up with freshly caught fish cooked over an open fire, then explore the frozen lake shore where bird traces mark the snow.

Leave Dali Nor Lake after a cold sunrise over the frozen expanse and begin the drive back to Hailar. The route follows the grassland highway south, passing through endless white plains dotted with herder camps and eagles circling overhead. Stop at a roadside herder’s camp for hot milk tea and a brief look at winter nomadic life — how families tend livestock, keep warm, and prepare dried meat and dairy for the long cold months. Arrive in Hailar by late afternoon with time to rest or browse the local market for cashmere scarves and Mongolian silver crafts.

Spend your last full day exploring Hailar at a relaxed pace. Start at the Hulunbuir Nationality Museum, where exhibits trace the history of the region’s Mongolian, Daur, Evenki, and Oroqen ethnic groups — from traditional clothing to nomadic herding rhythms. Walk to Genghis Khan Square, the civic heart of the city, where winter decorations and ice sculptures line the walkways. Your guide shares stories of the cultural crossroads where Mongolian, Russian, and Chinese influences converge. Afternoon free for market shopping or a final bowl of mutton soup.

Enjoy a leisurely morning at your hotel with time for a final walk around the neighborhood or a last cup of Mongolian milk tea at a local café. Your private guide and driver arrange the transfer to Hailar Airport or Railway Station based on your departure schedule. The drive takes roughly 20 minutes from the city center. Say goodbye to your guide with the knowledge that you’ve experienced one of China’s most remote and rewarding winter landscapes — from snowbound grasslands and volcanic hot springs to ancient fishing traditions on frozen lakes.