What to do and see in Da'erhan Maoming'an Lianhe Qi, Inner Mongolia: The Best Things to do

Reviewed By jonascn - Singapore, Singapore

The Xilamuren Prairie is an outrageous scam. Here is how it works. 1. You check in at noon by tour bus to the cement yurt that resemble the Mongolia Yurt. The Yurt is a cement hut with shower, air con and proper tiles and bed for 2, with windows. It is probably worth going in summer as the air con heater function is weak. Expect to be freezing during winter. The Prairie is run by Chinese businessmen who employ local Inner Mongolians. 2. Then it is time for lunch. There are two batches. One batch is at 1pm and the other at 2pm. The format is a Mongolia style lunch where you sit like a Mongolia king. But the lunch is RMB 395 with free attire where you can dress like a king. The lunch comes with performances of local entertainers (mostly singing and dancing) and the highlight is the specifically prepared stewed mutton that is cooked with traditional slaughter method and herbs to remove a flavour (if you like to be the guest of honour to make the first cut, you can but you need to pay extra). It taste good and is worth the experience. The other dishes are forgettable like the yogurt drink, fried dishes and local white wine that taste like petrol. 3. After lunch, you are left with 2 options. Either do nothing for the next few hours or take a horse ride. It sounds like a no brainer. That will be another RMB 480 to RMB 580 depending on the number of stations (3 to 5 stations). Each station is probably less than 5 minutes away as the entire 5 stations is just within the circled outer perimeter of the Prairie. The highlight of the ride is you get to race past the grassland and see some traditional religious monuments and yurt. Then you enter another yurt where they serve you yogurt and ask you to buy their local products. Besides the scenery, the other highlight is you get to talk to the local horse riding guide who will share interesting stories about life in Inner Mongolia. 4. After returning, you rest before a campfire at night and as you guessed it, you have to pay extra for the performances and dinner. 5. For checkout, the tour bus will bring you to some Mongolia jewellery and handicraft (which is a scam) before reaching the next destination. Overall, it is an outrageous scam that leaves you little options. Please avoid staying in the yurt as you will be scammed from checkin to checkout. You are at their mercy as there is no shopping mall or food outlets within a few hours. But I gave a 5 star rating because it is still worth visiting as we do not see grassland in our developed countries. Moreover, the scammed experiences are unique despite being over priced (especially the mutton). Thus it is worth a day trip but not an overnight trip. You get scammed but you do experience Inner Mongolia lifestyle that is probably 60% accurate.