Past the greenest pastures

Family tours offer chances for parents and children to bond while milking cows and shaping sand sculptures.

Routes for the elderly offer blood-glucose and fat monitoring while visiting Yulong Sand Lake and practicing tai chi.

Really.

Ma Hui hopes to return this summer after enjoying her visit last July.

The Beijinger plans to drive across the vast Hulun Buir grasslands.

"I saw some of my friends' photos," she says.

"They were just beautiful. I'd like to enjoy the views and experience Nadam.

"Inner Mongolia looks its best in summer."

Plus, its clement climate offers respite from boiling Beijing.

Ma enjoyed the cooler weather while exploring Gonger's grassland and Chifeng city's Yulong Sand Lake, set in tremendous terrains studded with yurts and livestock.

She joined a bonfire party with toasts, songs and dances.

"People were hospitable," she says.

"It was relaxing to see the stars over the prairie."

And it's exciting to see what sunrises promise－plus deliver.

That is, beyond the grasslands.