Tonghu Grasslands

Tonghu Grassland, well known as “Eden in the desert”, is an important part of Shapotou Tourist Region located 30 km. (19 mi.) away from Zhongwei city in Ningxia Province.

Many beautiful natural landscapes gather there such as desert, salt lake, wetland and oasis.

Tonghu literally means several interlinked lake. Legend has it that this area was once dotted with lakes among which two relatively large ones are called West Lake and East Lake.

At West Lake stands a lamasery and one day a small lama was asked to fetch some water from the lake with two copper pots. Unfortunately, the lama was so careless that he had the pots fell into the lake. Hard as he tried to fish for the lost pots, he still couldn’t find them.

Because of this, he was driven out of the lamasery. Years later, an unexpected thing happened. The small lama found the two lost pots in East Lake, dozens of li (an ancient unit equals to 0.5 km. – 0.3 mi.) away from the West Lake. 

The lama was suddenly enlightened and knew that the two lakes were interlinked. Hence the name Tonghu came into being.

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Today Tonghu Grassland is endowed with vast expanse of Tengger desert, grassland, lakes and camel-shaped sand dunes which are all harmoniously combined and look like a fine picture portraited by mother nature. You will surely be fascinated by its beauty and fail to find a proper adjective to describe what you have seen.

In Tonghu Grassland you will find many yurts of the Mongolian people. Mongolian hada, a piece of silk used as a greeting gift, shows the hospitality of the Mongolian people.

You can appreciate songs sang by handsome young herdsmen and pretty girls. Immerse yourself into the strong Mongolian cultures!

Boozing and eating boiled meat with your hands together with Mongolians is a surely hearty experience.

More travel tips for you: do not drink too much while you going local. Ticket price for Tonghu Grassland is 30 RMB (5 USD).

Guess what? You can enjoy fantastic shows in Tonghu Grassland! You will be thrilled nicely by the variety of recreational activities held there. 

You can either choose to ride a horse or a camel, drive across the desert by kart or just stroll in the desert and watch the sun rising in the morning and setting in the evening. Have the grassland besides the desert to your own and enjoy your relaxing trip here!