Xiangshawan (Singing Sand Bay)
Dune Resort On The Edge Of The Kubuqi Desert, Named For The Booming Sound Of Its Sand · Ordos, Inner Mongolia
A dune resort on the northern edge of the Kubuqi desert in Ordos, named for a curious effect: on dry days, sliding down the big slope sets off a low booming hum from the sand itself, a sound that has been reported here for centuries and is caused by grains shearing past one another. The site sits where a long crescent dune drops about a hundred metres to a valley floor, and a cable car crosses the gap so visitors do not have to wade up through the sand. Beyond it the resort has grown into something closer to a desert theme park, with sand sledging, dune buggies, camel trains crossing the ridges, a desert hotel of pod-like rooms, evening bonfire performances of Mongolian song and dance, and sand sculpture displays. Walk twenty minutes from the activity zones, though, and the Kubuqi opens out as it should be: bare ridges to the horizon, tracks of beetles and lizards on the slip faces, and a silence broken only by wind. Sunset from a high dune, with Ordos hazy in the distance, is the reason to stay late.
Xiangshawan Scenic Area, Dalad Banner, Ordos, Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China
Daily, about 8:00-19:00 with last entry around 17:30 in the main season; much of the resort closes or runs reduced hours in winter.
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