Hailar in Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

of north and northeast China is a province, as its name implies, of residence of Mongolian ethnic group in China. Located in the north-easternmost of the province and bordering with Russian and Mongolia,

Hulun Buir

, in Chinese calls "Hu Lun Bei Er" (呼伦贝尔) was first documented in 209 BC, when the nomadic and barbaric Hun army unified the steppe nations in northern Asia, and Hulun Buir became one of their three imperial lands. In 29 AD, Hsien-pei, an ancient ethnic minority in the Mongolia region, had become civilized from their forest nomad origins and begun closely associated with China's Eastern Han Dynasty, Hsien-pei people were living along the Hailar River and other rivers there. In the Tang Dynasty (618 AD – 907 AD), Hulun Buir had been the eastern border of the Turki nationality, which was once a threat to the Chinese dynasty. Tartar and other northern minorities occupied the territory between ninth and thirteenth centuries AD.

In early thirteenth century, the founder of the ancient Mongolian Empire, Genghis Khan, conferred Hulun Buir land to his younger brothers. When the Ming Dynasty defeated the Mongolian army in 1368, the area was still belonged to Mongolian nation. In the year of 1734 during the Qing Dynasty, Manchu people established Hailar City in Hulun Buir. After setting up of the Puppet Manchu State in 1932, Hulun Buir became a provincial level area called Xing An Province and the "provincial capital" was Hailar. At the end of the Anti-Japanese War (1937 – 1945), autonomous authority governed Hulun Buir and the area became a self-rule province in northeast China. In 2001, Hulun Buir has become a city approved by the Chinese State Council and Hailar city's status abolished and thus it became a district.

Today, most people in Hulun Buir are Han Chinese, which takes up about 82 percent of population of 2.71 million (in 2004). In addition to the Mongolian ethnic group, there are about 30 minorities living there, including Russians and Koreans. The Han Chinese people are mostly from northern and northeastern China and maintained their customs from their places of origin. However, in the western part of Hulun Buir, Chinese people are influenced by local ethnic minorities' living habits. Congee, noodles, Mantou bread and rice are Chinese style staple foods in the eastern area, but beef, mutton and Mongolian style milk tea are eaten in the west. There are lots of special restaurant in downtown Hulun Buir. Ethnic festivals will be held during the short summer season, so, if you don't like snow, you'll perhaps very enjoy the cheerful atmosphere in warm weather.

The Daxing'anling Range (大兴安岭) is stretching over Hulun Buir from the north down to the south. The land elevation is higher compared to the east. The climate in the western section is relatively dry with less precipitation and of course slightly colder than in the east, where belongs to cool monsoon climate, annual rainfall is 500 to 800 millimeters. Great temperature difference between day and night as well as summer and winter.

The steppe in Hulun Buir is one of the best grasslands in the world. Manzhouli City, on the border with Russian Federation, is a famous place for doing business and commodity transactions between China, Mongolia and Russia. The Mongolian yurts are circular, domed, portable tents, which are for their traditional custom of living. The northern forest area is excellent for photographers, it will be very beautiful when in fall. Of course, it is to be exciting skiing season in long winter. Shopping, Mongolian woodcarvings and Russian style handicrafts are widely available in town. You Yi Da Sha (Friendly Building) is a big shopping mall in the center of Hulun Buir.

Hailar District is the resident of Hulun Buir municipal government. It is located in southwest of Hulun Buir City. Hailer is being surrounded by mountains at its three sides and there are two rivers flowing through. Being regarded as the Pearl of the Steppe, bordering with Mongolia and Russia, the district is an economically developed area. The trans-Siberian Beijing to Moscow passenger train has a stop here. Air traffic to Beijing, Hohhot and several Russian cities is convenient too. Hailar, got its name from the Hailar River in the north of the district. Hailar means "wild leeks" in Mongolian language, because on the both banks of the Hailar River had been full of leeks.

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