Erenhot

Erenhot ( ; zh, s=二连浩特, p=Èrliánhàotè, commonly shortened to Ereen or Erlian) is a county-level city under jurisdiction of the Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia, China, located in the Gobi Desert along the Sino-Mongolian border, across from the Mongolian town of Zamyn-Üüd. There are 74,197 inhabitants ( 2010 census) and the elevation is .

Demographics

Climate

Erenhot experiences a cold desert climate (Köppen ''BWk'') with long, very dry, and bitter winters and short, hot summers. Monthly daily average temperatures range from in January to in July, with an annual mean of . The city receives 3,232 hours (about 73% of the possible total) of bright sunshine per year, and clear, sunny, dry weather dominates year-round; due to the aridity, the diurnal temperature variation frequently approaches and exceeds . Over two-thirds of the sparse of annual rainfall occurs from June to August alone. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 67% in July to 78% in February, the city is one of the sunniest nationwide and receives 3,232 hours of bright sunshine annually.

Administrative divisions

Erenhot is divided into 1 sum and 2 township-level administrations.

Economy

The border town is a rail port city and the largest hub for cross border trade between Mongolia and China. When authorities opened the town up in 1992 to international trade, Erenhot underwent a transformation growing from 8,000 people then to an estimated 100,000 people including migrant workers.

The Dabusan Nur salt lake to the north of Erenhot provided an economic boom to the city's chemical industry during the late 1990s. The lake has provided Erenhot with a large water supply which also contributed to the rapid growth of the city and economy.

As a destination for wholesalers moving goods across the border, the city hosts a large trading market, International Trade City. Built in 2006 the mall is "a block-long, three-story wholesale market that houses 527 tenants who sell silk fabrics, rabbit and fox furs and other commodities."

Transport

Erenhot is a key border town on the Trans-Mongolian Railway, serving as one of two major international railway crossings in Inner Mongolia (the other being Manzhouli on the Sino-Russian border). It is the primary land gateway for rail-based trade between China and Mongolia.

Due to increasing volumes of cross-border freight, the south-north Jining–Erenhot railway has experienced capacity constraints. In response, the east-west Xilinhot–Erenhot Railway was built in 2015. The railway from Xilinhot passes through Abag Banner, Sonid Left Banner, and terminates near Erenhot at the Xili Railway Station. It supports heavy freight capacity—initially 4,000 tons—with future upgrades planned for 10,000-ton trains.

Erenhot remains the location where international trains undergo a bogie exchange due to the break-of-gauge between China’s standard gauge and Mongolia’s Russian gauge (1520 mm). While the traditional manual bogie change process is still in use, China has begun introducing variable gauge axle technology (SUW 2000-type), which is expected to improve efficiency at the border crossing.

The town is also the northern terminus of China National Highway 208, which stretches southward to Changzhi, Shanxi Province, linking Erenhot to China’s broader national highway network.

Erenhot Saiwusu International Airport offers scheduled flights to Beijing, Hohhot, and Tongliao, providing additional connectivity for passengers and light cargo.

Dinosaurs

The area around the town, especially a salt lake known to paleontologists as Iren Dabasu or Iren Nor (' = colourful, ' = salt, ' = lake) to the east, is known for the discovery of a number of different dinosaurs. The city houses a dinosaur museum, and in 2006 a big arch in form of two Sauropoda was built on the highway southward. In 2007, a number of smaller figures of different species were added.

See also

* List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
* ''Gigantoraptor''
* '' Alectrosaurus''

References

External links

Official website
*


August 7, 2007 (China.org.cn)


AsiaObscura.com

{{Authority control

Cities in Inner Mongolia
China–Mongolia border crossings