Xilinhot
| Xilinhot 锡林浩特市 • ᠰᠢᠯᠢ ᠶᠢᠨᠬᠣᠲᠠ | |
|---|---|
| County-level city | |
  Xilinhot Location in Inner Mongolia | |
| Coordinates: 43°57′N 116°05′E / 43.950°N 116.083°ECoordinates: 43°57′N 116°05′E / 43.950°N 116.083°E | |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Autonomous region | Inner Mongolia |
| Aimag | Xilin Gol |
| Incorporated (County-level city) | 1983.10.10 |
| Area | |
| • County-level city | 14,785 km2 (5,709 sq mi) |
| • Urban | 34 km2 (13 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 997 m (3,271 ft) |
| Population (2010)[1] | |
| • County-level city | 245,886 |
| • Density | 17/km2 (43/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
| Postal code | 026000 |
| Area code(s) | 0479 |
| License plate prefixes | 蒙H |
| Website |
www |
Xilinhot (Mongolian: Шилийн хот, 
History
During the Ming dynasty, the elder brother of Genghis Khan lived in the area the city now occupies, which let to the local Mongols being called "Abganar" (translated from Mongolian "Abgal" means "paternal uncle"). When in the first half of the 17th century the Mongols submitted to the Manchu, Abganar territories were divided into two banners: Abganar-Tszoitsi (Abganar left wing) and Abganar-Yuitsi (Abganar right wing), commanded by "wings" in the rank of princes "beile". Besides Abganarov, the Abgal (阿巴嘎) and Hotsit (浩齐特) tribes also lived in the area. Xinlihot was renamed Beizi Temple (贝子庙; Bèizǐ miào), since the Qianlong Emperor built the Beizi Temple in 1743.
In 1914, it was included in the newly founded Chahar Special Administrative Region, which became the Chahar Province in 1928. Later it was included in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Nowadays, the temple is one of the largest temples on the Xilin Gol grassland. In 1953 the county was renamed Xilinhot, before it was renamed Abahanaer Banner in 1956. In 1983, it was approved for classification as a county-level city by the state council, and finally renamed Xilinhot.
Geography
The elevation is about 990 metres (3,250 ft). The city is 610 and 620 kilometres (380 and 390 mi) from Beijing and Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, respectively.
Climate
Xilinhot experiences a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk) with long, very dry, and bitter winters and short, hot summers. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from −18.8 °C (−1.8 °F) in January to 21.2 °C (70.2 °F) in July, with an annual mean of 2.60 °C (36.7 °F). With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 59% in July to 73% in February, sunshine is abundant year-round, the city receives 2,970 hours of sunshine per year; due to the aridity, the diurnal temperature variation frequently approaches and exceeds 15 °C (27 °F). A majority of the 287 millimetres (11.3 in) of annual rainfall occurs in July and August alone.
| Climate data for Xilinhot (1971−2000) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | −12.1 (10.2) |
−7.5 (18.5) |
1.6 (34.9) |
12.9 (55.2) |
20.6 (69.1) |
25.4 (77.7) |
27.6 (81.7) |
25.8 (78.4) |
20.0 (68) |
11.3 (52.3) |
0.0 (32) |
−9.1 (15.6) |
9.7 (49.5) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −23.9 (−11) |
−20.9 (−5.6) |
−12.2 (10) |
−2.1 (28.2) |
5.4 (41.7) |
11.6 (52.9) |
15.4 (59.7) |
13.3 (55.9) |
6.0 (42.8) |
−2.5 (27.5) |
−12.3 (9.9) |
−20.2 (−4.4) |
−3.5 (25.6) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 2.2 (0.087) |
2.1 (0.083) |
5.3 (0.209) |
6.8 (0.268) |
23.2 (0.913) |
45.0 (1.772) |
89.0 (3.504) |
70.2 (2.764) |
23.7 (0.933) |
11.3 (0.445) |
5.3 (0.209) |
2.5 (0.098) |
286.6 (11.285) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 4.1 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 5.9 | 10.9 | 14.0 | 11.6 | 6.7 | 4.7 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 78.6 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 72 | 68 | 56 | 39 | 39 | 50 | 61 | 63 | 56 | 53 | 61 | 71 | 57 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 205.0 | 213.7 | 262.1 | 271.6 | 298.2 | 287.5 | 276.9 | 273.3 | 254.5 | 239.7 | 199.7 | 187.8 | 2,970 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 72 | 73 | 72 | 68 | 66 | 63 | 59 | 63 | 68 | 70 | 69 | 68 | 67 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration | |||||||||||||
Economy
Xilinhot is a market of significance, where cattle is of particular importance.
Culture and tourism
The historic center includes an artistic temple. The Naadam Festival, a Mongolian feast, is celebrated here every year. Naadam is a gathering of the Mongolian people for wrestling, horse trading, costume contests, horse racing, etc. It's their summer festival and is generally very colorful with costumes and colorful yurts set up to serve food and sell trinkets and supplies.
Mongolian culture is very prominent with pictures, tapestries and monumental statues of Genghis Khan in every home, shop and street corner.
Tourists can stay at nearby yurt resorts where there is a large yurt for dining surrounded by smaller individual yurts for sleeping. The surrounding countryside is rolling grasslands populated by Mongolians who have horses, sheep, goats and some cows. Meals consisted of mutton, beef, cabbages, and other fruit and vegetables.
Cuisine
Xilinhot's diet is focused on the processing of local dairy and meat production. Products include horse milk yogurt, milk, tofu and milk skin as well as beef and mutton string, hand meat and grilled lamb.
Transportation
Xilinhot Airport has regular flights to Beijing from Air China and China United Airlines. The airport is also served by Tianjin Airlines with multiple daily flights to Hohhot and a seasonal daily flight to Tianjin; there are also occasionally direct flights to other major cities.[2]
The K7917 train connects Xilinhot with the national rail network and departs daily for Hohhot and Baotou.
China National Highway 207 and China National Highway 303 both terminate in the Xilinhot area. The S27 Xilingol-Kalgan Expressway also ends in suburb Xilinhot.
External links
References
- 1 2 (in Chinese) Data from the Sixth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China Archived December 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "Xilinhot Airport Live Flight Information". Retrieved 15 September 2015.