Best Time to Visit Bayan Nur

Spring and early summer: the easy window

Winter hangs on into March, but by April you'll get mild days around 19°C and cool nights. The air is dry and the sky is mostly clear. May is warmer, with highs of 26°C and only a few wet days. June is hotter still at 31°C, and it still rates Excellent. Rain is rare in all three months.

This is the best stretch for a first visit. The Hetao plain around Bayan Nur is flat farmland fed by Yellow River canals, and it turns green from May. Spring can be breezy and dusty, so you may see haze on some afternoons. Good news if you hate crowds: this isn't a big tourist region, and you'll often have sights to yourself.

July and August: warm and a bit wetter

These are the hottest months, with July at 34°C. They're also the wettest, with rain on about seven days each month. Showers are usually short, and the sun still shines for most of the day. It's a fine time for the grasslands and the Yin Mountains (Yinshan), where the air feels fresher than on the plain.

Travelling with kids? Summer school holidays are the busiest time for domestic trips. Expect more Chinese families heading to the grassland areas of Inner Mongolia, though Bayan Nur itself stays quiet. If you want horse riding or a night in a yurt (a round felt tent), summer is when those are running.

September and October: our pick for clear skies

September is Excellent, with highs of 25°C and cool evenings. October is also Excellent and has the sunniest days of the year, at about 8 hours a day. It's dry too. Harvest time on the Hetao plain gives the fields a golden look, and the light is good for photos.

Early October overlaps with China's National Day holiday, the Golden Week. Trains and hotels in bigger cities fill up, so book transport early if you're passing through Hohhot or Baotou. By late October nights drop close to freezing.

Winter: cold and quiet

From December to February, highs stay near or below freezing, and January nights fall to -15°C. It's dry and fairly sunny, but the cold is the real story. Rivers and canals can freeze. Visit only if you want empty streets and a true northern winter. Chinese New Year, in January or February, shuts many local shops and restaurants for several days. November and March are in-between months, with Fair and Good ratings, but they're chilly.