Helan Shan Mountains Travel Guide
Situated just 58kms northwest of Yinchuan, the Helen Mountain range is an impressive and truly stunning sight in stark contrast to the surrounding arid desert.
- What is It?
- One of China's oldest and most intriguing natural art galleries.
- When to Go
- Between April and September, when the weather is warm and dry.
- Nearest Town
- Yinchuan, a 60-minute bus ride away.
- Don't Miss
- climb to the top of the wall running along the mountain and walk along the wide walkway for views across the desert.
- Trivia
- according to a professor of Chinese art at Rhode Island School of Design, the rock images are between 1,500 and 2,500 years old.
These high mountains overlook the Yellow River and feature more than 5,000 images carved into the rocks. First discovered in the 1980s, the ancient images mainly feature animals, birds and rural scenes. Fantastically detailed, the carvings provide a rare insight into ancient life in this part of the world.
Although ancient carvings can be seen all over the world, there are not many sights like this in China and the Helan Mountain range is an interesting place to stop for a while if you are exploring this region of China. Although now empty, the landscape around the mountains was once a hive of activity as a number of tribes lived here.
The closeness of the Mountains to Yinchuan makes this a good place to visit on a daytrip. It is also possible to continue on to nearby towns and cities in Ningxia Province as buses often stop here on their way through. Make sure you take plenty of supplies as there are no restaurants around here.
Travel to Helan Shan Mountains - Getting There
Access is from the city of Yinchuan, which has its own airport with regular flights to places such as Beijing (1 hour, 30 minutes) and Xian (1 hour). It is possible to take a bus from the large bus station near the airport to the Helan Shan Mountains (1 hour).
