Just three hours to the west of Hohhot by train or
bus lies Inner Mongolia's biggest city,
BAOTOU
. Its primary significance is as the chief iron- and
steel-producing centre in China: if you're arriving
at night from the direction of Yinchuan, your first
glimpse of the city is likely to be of satanic fires
burning in the great blast furnaces. The sky over
the western half of Baotou is a more or less
permanent yellow, orange and purple colour. For
visitors, there can be something magnificent about
ugliness on such a scale, but otherwise, apart from
a few minor sights, including
Wudangzhao , an
attractive Tibetan-style monastery outside the town,
the city does not have much to offer. One further
site of considerable romantic interest, if nothing
else -
Genghis Khan's Mausoleum - lies well
to the south of Baotou near the town of Dongsheng.
The City
of Baotou
Baotou is a colossal city stretching for miles in
all directions. It comprises three main areas:
Donghe, the oldest part of town, to the east, and
Qingshan and Kundulun to the west. Qingshan is a
nondescript shopping and residential area, while
Kundulun...
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