Live with a Herdsman Family, Ride Across Jinlianchuan Grassland & Experience Nomadic Traditions

Spend four days living on a private Xilingol summer pasture. Share homemade meals, explore the grassland on foot and horseback, learn traditional skills, enjoy Mongolian music, and even build a real yurt with your local hosts.

4 Days Inner Mongolia, North China

Explore Jinlianchuan Grassland on Foot and Horseback

Walk through the peaceful hinterland of Jinlianchuan Grassland, once used as a summer retreat by emperors of the Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties, then explore the wider prairie on horseback.

Experience Everyday Nomadic Traditions

Watch or try cow milking, taste fresh milk and local dairy products, and learn how daily life on the summer pasture revolves around livestock, food, and the open grassland.

Try Mongolian Archery

Take your turn at traditional archery on the grassland, one of the activities closely associated with Mongolian culture and life on the steppe

Itinerary quick look

Detailed 4-Day Itinerary

Make this route your own. We will refine every day around your dates, energy level, and interests.

Day 1
Arrival in Xanadu — Meet Your Herdsman Hosts & Stay in a Traditional Yurt
Today, make your way to the summer pasture in Xanadu of Zhenglan Banner, Xilingol League, where your Mongolian grassland experience begins.
Transfer from Zhangjiakou or Xilinhot
The original itinerary provides two arrival options:
- If traveling from Beijing, take the high-speed train to Zhangjiakou, where your private driver will meet you and transfer you approximately 3.5 hours to the summer pasture.
- If arriving from Shanghai or another city, fly to Xilinhot, followed by an approximately 2-hour private transfer to the pasture.
Meet the Herdsman Family
On arrival, settle into the family’s summer grazing land and begin experiencing life far from the usual tourist centers.
Your hosts will prepare a traditional Mongolian home-cooked dinner, giving you your first taste of local grassland cuisine.
Traditional Mongolian Yurt Stay
Spend your first night in your own traditional Mongolian yurt, surrounded by the quiet landscape of the Xilingol grasslands.
Day 2
Xanadu Summer Pasture — Cow Milking, Grassland Walk & Sand Sliding
Today is dedicated to experiencing the daily routines and landscapes of the summer pasture.
Cow Milking & Fresh Dairy
Begin the morning by watching the family milk their cows. You may also have the opportunity to participate.
Taste fresh milk and locally prepared dairy products, experiencing an essential part of traditional pastoral life.
Walk Through Jinlianchuan Grassland
Take a light walk into the quiet interior of Jinlianchuan Grassland.
Rather than viewing the prairie from a vehicle, experience its scale on foot, surrounded by open grassland and uninterrupted horizons. The area historically served as a summer retreat for Liao, Jin, and Yuan emperors.
Sand Sliding
After lunch, travel to a nearby natural sandy area.
Enjoy a sand-sliding experience, exchanging the soft grassland underfoot for wild dunes and sandy slopes.
BBQ Dinner & Mongolian Music
Return to the pasture for a barbecue dinner.
Spend the evening listening to traditional Mongolian music, including overtone singing and long songs, before retiring to your yurt.
Day 3
Xanadu Summer Pasture — Horse Riding, Archery & Dairy-Making
Continue living alongside the herdsman family and experience another full day of traditional grassland activities.
Morning Milking Experience
Start the morning with another opportunity to experience cow milking and enjoy fresh local dairy products.
Horse Riding Across the Grassland
Set out on horseback to search for some of the best views across the prairie.
Riding offers a more traditional way to explore the landscape and provides a closer sense of the vastness of the Xilingol grasslands.
Mongolian Archery
After riding, try your hand at archery and experience another activity with deep roots in Mongolian culture.
Dairy Product DIY
After lunch, join your hosts for a hands-on dairy product-making experience.
Learn how local milk is transformed into traditional foods, then sample authentic Mongolian snacks made from the products of the pasture.
Final Home-Cooked Dinner
Share another home-cooked dinner with the herdsman family and reflect on the experiences of the previous days.
Spend your final night in the Mongolian yurt.
Day 4
Xanadu — Build a Mongolian Yurt & Departure
Spend your final morning learning one of the most distinctive skills associated with traditional nomadic life.
Build a Traditional Mongolian Yurt
Work together with the herdsman family to build a real Mongolian yurt.
Through the process, learn how the portable dwelling is assembled and why its design is ideally suited to the traditional mobile lifestyle of grassland communities.
Departure
After completing the experience, your private driver will transfer you either to:
- Xilinhot Airport
- Zhangjiakou Railway Station
depending on your onward travel arrangements.