At YPT we run tours to both Inner and Outer Mongolia, two places that have their similarities and a whole bunch of differences. If you’re fuzzy on the distinction then check out our primer, but in this article we’re going to focus on Inner Mongolia.

Where is Inner Mongolia?

Inner Mongolia (pinyin: Nèi Měnggǔ, simplified Chinese: 内蒙古) is in northern China and constitutes its own province . It unsurprisingly borders Outer Mongolia to the north.

Is the Gobi Desert in Inner Mongolia?

The Gobi Desert spans many Chinese provinces, and Inner Mongolia is one of them. So: yes.

What is the capital of Inner Mongolia?

Hohhot. We’d like to recommend it, but it’s pretty dull and also one of the most polluted places on the planet.

What’s the coolest thing to see in Inner Mongolia?

That would be the ghost city of Ordos Kangbashi, to which we run regular tours. The mausoleum of great man of the people Genghis Khan is also located here, if you fancy paying your respects (odds are you’re related to him, after all).

How many Mongolians live in Inner Mongolia?

17.1% of Inner Mongolia’s population is made up of ethnic Mongols; the vast majority of people living in the province are Han Chinese.

What is the food like in Inner Mongolia?

If you like meat, then it’s pretty great. It’s largely huge chunks of meat and Mongolian hot pot (which allegedly originated in Mongolia). Mongolian cuisine is hardly the most varied, but it does fill a hole!

Has there ever been an amusing Japanese-style puppet state in Inner Mongolia?

We applaud the specificity of your questions! The answer is yes: whilst not quite as intense as Manchukuo, Mengjiang was a short-lived Mongolian puppet state that existed for less than two years before being absorbed into the Reorganised National Government of the Republic of China (itself a Japanese puppet state).

And that is the skinny on Inner Mongolia. Check out our tours to Kangbashi or ‘real’ Mongolia if you’d like to see for yourself!