Tengger Desert Guide

Travel to the Tengger Desert, you can experience the great power of nature and see a very different view of desert. The Tengger Desert, about 25 Kilometers west of Zhongwei City, covers an area of 36,700 sq. kilometers, is full of endless sand dunes and there is almost no life to be seen. However, there are around 400 lakes dispersed throughout the desert. One of the most visible creatures that live here is the Wall Owl, active during the daytime and quiet at night. Wall Owls seem to be fairly similar to North American burrowing owls: they’re active during the daytime,

likely live in burrows (as there are no trees to nest in), and probably feed on rodents and the large insects (beetles and desert cicadas) that run around on the dunes.On the southern rim of the Desert, there is a Shapotou Desert Researh Station established in 1956. There a dune stabilization project has been built in order to help ensure safe passage of the train. Shapotou, situated in Zhongwei County, lies on the north bank of the Yellow River where it crosses the southeastern border of the Tengger Desert. The poor wall, however, does not merit this kind of effort. In

some places it's buried completely beneath the sand and we can follow it only by walking from beacon tower to beacon tower. Administratively it falls under Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region-some 150 km south of Yinchuan City. Shapotou Tourism Area is regarded as one of the five most beautiful deserts in China, and is widely recognized as the Capital of Sand. Standing on the sand hill, one can see the desert extending to the north, and to the south, a boundless oasis. Both the grandeur of the north of China and the elegance of the south come together in this lovely place.

• Gao Temple
• Nanguan Mosque
• China West Film Studio
• Shapotou
• Tengger Desert
• Sand Lake
• The Yellow River
• 108 Buddhist Pagodas
• Western Xia Tombs
• Western Xia Museum
• Cliff carvings Helan Mountain