Things to do in Hanggin Rear Banner

A very exciting desert experience, with various activities and very nice prices. The children had a lot of fun, full of smiles, colliding with nature, and feeling the hot desert journey.

还不错，阴山脚下的释迦牟尼铜身像，国内第三大佛，说是晚上灯光打开了漂亮，对面广场还有各种表演和烧烤，可惜没等到晚上就回了

There are so many activities in the desert: sandboarding, desert train rides, Bigfoot rides, camel riding, and it's best to travel off-peak. It's freezing cold! Remember to wear warm clothes. Emerging in the desert to escape the rain in late autumn—fewer people, great for taking photos, so refreshing!

I booked free admission for Mondays, but I still needed to buy a shuttle bus ticket, which didn't apply to the number of tombs I visited. Normally, you first visit the Western Xia Imperial Tombs Museum to learn about that period of history, then walk along a rather long path to take the shuttle bus. Generally, you visit Tomb No. 3 first, then take the shuttle bus and horse-drawn carriage to Tomb No. 4, and then take the shuttle bus back to the starting point. The overall route was smooth, and the shuttle bus service was quite timely. However, the distance from the entrance to the shuttle bus station is a bit far, which might be inconvenient for disabled or elderly tourists. Overall, it was a good experience.

The Inner Mongolia Hetao Cultural Museum is free. You must wear a mask when entering, otherwise you cannot enter. You will go through security check as soon as you enter. Because it is close to home, I used to go there often. Hot water is also provided inside. If you want to go in and browse, you can bring your own water cup.

Western Film Studio is a film and television base, only one-tenth the size of Hengdian World Studios, but it has been the setting for many famous films, including *Red Sorghum*, *A Chinese Odyssey*, *The Herdsman*, and *14 Blades*. Therefore, its sets are attractive to film enthusiasts, but even those unfamiliar with film can enjoy a visit. The sets perfectly capture the desolate atmosphere of the desert. It's divided into three parts: Ming City, Qing City, and Old Yinchuan Street. Ming City is the most important, with the most sets. Qing City is smaller, consisting of just a main street. Old Yinchuan Street can be skipped if time is limited. Ming City includes the Dragon Inn, the Moon Gate, the execution platform for Tang Sanzang from *A Chinese Odyssey*, the platform where the Bull Demon King received his bride, the courtyard where Jiang Wen lived in *Red Sorghum*, and the street used in various films. The most famous feature of Qing City is the city gate tower, which houses wax figures of Supreme Treasure and Fairy Zixia. It also includes the Bull Demon King's house, the back garden, and the Spider Cave. Basically, the movie *A Chinese Odyssey* accounts for more than half of the film's popularity; its influence is immense. A visit takes about 2-3 hours, mainly to the Ming Dynasty city. Late October is less crowded, so you can take photos freely. There are costume rentals inside; the streets are full of people dressed as Zixia Fairy. The ticket price for the film studio isn't cheap, at 80 yuan. For a quick visit, I think 40 yuan would be more reasonable. It's much closer to the city center than the Helan Mountain scenic area. Taking a Didi (ride-hailing service) is easy, so you don't have to worry about getting back to Yinchuan. Once you're at Helan Mountain, you really don't know how to get back. From April to October, there are dedicated bus lines between Yinchuan and the Western Xia Mausoleums, Helan Mountain, and the film studio. These stop after late October. A more convenient option is to take the local tourist shuttle bus, which goes to many places, including less-visited attractions like Shuidonggou and Shahu Lake. However, you need to get up early and board at designated times. If you want to go to the Western Xia Mausoleums, there are buses from Yinchuan that can take you there, but it takes a long time. You can also take a Didi (ride-hailing service).

Yinshan Rock Paintings "If only General Li Guang were here, the barbarian horses would never dare cross the Yinshan Mountains." The Yinshan Mountains run east-west, are ancient fault-block mountains, approximately 1200 kilometers long, with the main peak, Huhebashige, reaching an altitude of 2364 meters. The mountains are mostly composed of ancient metamorphic rocks, with sedimentary rocks distributed in the fault basins. They mark the northern boundary between China's monsoon and non-monsoon regions, belonging to the transitional zone between temperate semi-arid and arid climates. The Langshan Mountains in the west are particularly arid, while the Daqingshan Mountains are relatively humid. The area south of the mountains is agricultural, the north is pastoral, and the mountainous areas are a mix of agriculture, animal husbandry, and forestry. More than 10,000 Yinshan rock paintings have been discovered from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the present day. They are not only among the earliest discovered rock paintings in the world but also among the richest, representing China's largest treasure trove of rock art. The vast majority of the existing Yinshan rock paintings are distributed in the Bayannur area, vividly recording the production and life history of ancient northern nomadic peoples such as the Xiongnu, Tiele, Rouran, Xianbei, and Mongols who lived in this region. The Five Tigers painting is a representative work of the Yinshan rock art. Besides animal and hunting scenes, pastoral scenes also constitute a significant proportion, originating in the late Bronze Age and continuing through the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Although the dates are quite different, their content is largely similar. There are also several celestial rock paintings, which are extremely rare among rock art worldwide.