Top 9 Yinchuan Attractions | Things to Do in Yinchuan 2024

Type: Historic Sites, Cemeteries

Best Time: May ~ October

Recommended Visiting Time: 1 ~ 3 hours

Opening Hours: 8:30 - 19:00

Tickets: CNY 88)

Address: East Range of the Helan Mountain, Yinchuan City (宁夏回族自治区银川市西夏区贺兰山东麓)

Western Xia Imperial Tombs are a group of tombs of imperial emperors in once a powerful kingdom called Western Xia (1038~1227). About 25km away from Yinchuan City, it is the largest survived imperial tombs park in China as well as the largest survived Western Xia relic site. Influenced by Buddhist architecture, the Western Xia Mausoleum has organically combined Han culture, Buddhist culture and Dangxiang culture, forming a unique form of Chinese cemetery architecture. Apart from the tombs, the Western Xia Museum, Tablet Forest and Western Xia Art Museum also walk you through the history of Western Xia Dynasty.

There are 9 imperial tombs and over 250 subordinate tombs in the mausoleum park, but only Yu Tomb, Jia Tomb and Tai Tomb are open to the public. Among the three tombs, Tai Tomb (No. 3 Tomb), where the founding emperor - Li Yuanhao buried, is the biggest highlight. From the ruins, you can clearly see the location and layout of the burial complex, and well-preserved cultural relics including tomb walls, tomb platforms, foundation and building components.

☛ 3 Days Yinchuan History and Culture Tour

Type: Historic Sites, Points of Interest, Landmarks

Best Time: May ~ October

Recommended Visiting Places:8:30 - 17:30

Tickets: CNY 60

Address: East Range of the Helan Mountain, Yinchuan City (宁夏回族自治区银川市西夏区贺兰山东麓)

Helan Mountain is an isolated mountain forming a significant natural barrier against desert winds as well as the place where China’s early northern nomadic tribes like Huns, Xianbei, Turks, Unighurs, Tubos, Dangxiang, etc. lived and proliferated. There are many things to see in Helan Mountain, and the No.1 sight must be Rock Painting of Helan Mountain which dated back to 10,000 years ago.

On the rocks of Helan Mountain, you can enjoy numerous pictographs depicting animals, faces, hunting scenes and some Western Xia characters in real life, as well as opening a window into early civilizations. There is also an excellent museum in the Rock Painting of Helan Mountain Scenic Area summarizing the major rock painting sites and displaying hundreds of exhibits from around the world. In order to get a better understanding of the paintings, we suggest you hire a travel guide or book a private tour package with China Discovery.

☛ 5 Days Ningxia Discovery Tour from Yinchuan to Zhongwei Shapotou

Type: Historic Sites, Points of Interest, Landmarks

Best Time: May ~ October

Recommended Visiting Time: 1 ~ 3 hours

Opening Hours: 8:30 - 17:30

Tickets: CNY 60

Address: Linhe Town, Lingwu City, Yinchuan City (银川市灵武市临河镇水洞沟旅游区)

As the earliest archaeological site of Paleolithic Age, Shuidong Cave has got several titles, such as the Cradle of the Prehistoric Archaeology and the Witness of the communication between the East and the West. The archaeological area is a big highlight of Shuidong Cave that records the living and multiplying of human beings like a gallery. Apart from archaeological significance, Shuidong Cave is also China’s best-preserved showplace of military and defensive structures, such as the ancient City Wall of Ming Dynasty, old watchtowers, arsenals, etc. Moreover, because of its geographical location on the southern border of Ordos, it owns an amazing Yardan landscape and offers great wonders of earth forests.

There are a lot of small points of interest in Shuidong Cave Scenic Area, including Cangbing Cave with an elaborate network of underground tunnels, Shuidong Cave Ruins Museum, Great Wall of Ming Dynasty, Archaeological Site Yuanyang Lake, Shuiwan Great Wall, etc. You will get lots of opportunities to discover the mystery of Shuidong Cave. Besides, there are some special communication media (like yaks, rafts, camels, tractors…) and interesting entertainments to experience (like bumper cars and archery) to experience.

☛ 4 Days Best of Ningxia Tour with Tengger Desert Adventure

Type: Museums

Best Time: All the Year Round

Recommended Visiting Time: 1 ~ 3 hours

Opening Hours: 9:00 - 17:00 (Closed on Monday)

Tickets: Free

Address: No. 6, East Street, Renmin Square, Jinfeng District, Yinchuan City (银川市金凤区人民广场东街6号)

Nothing is more informative than a museum if you want to get an in-depth understanding of a city. Located in the city center of Yinchuan, Ningxia Museum is a comprehensive museum with a high quality display of artefacts. There are 4 classic exhibition halls with over 51,000 cultural relics, including metals, porcelains, potteries, calligraphies and paintings, rock paintings, old coins, etc., giving great context to the history, culture, religions, and local folk features of Ningxia. Several valuable Qurans are also cherished in the Museum. Most of the exhibits are explained in both Mandarin and English.

By visiting the museum, you may get amazed by what a powerful kingdom Western Xia used to be, learn how Ningxia became the region today, understand Western Xia’s role in the Silk Road, see the history of Chairman Mao in Ningxia…

☛ 3 Days Yinchuan History and Culture Tour

Type: Points of Interest, Landmarks

Best Time:All the Year Round

Recommended Visiting Time: about 3 hours

Opening Hours: 9:00 - 17:00

Tickets: CNY 80

Address: Zhenbaeibao Town, Xixia Town, Yinchuan City (银川市西夏区镇北堡镇)

China Western Film Studios, used to be the frontier barrier, now is a famous filming base in China. The most famous Chinese films shot here include Red Sorghum, A Chinese Odyssey, New Longmen Inn, etc. Chinese-language film buffs can easily figure out some of the classical sets while walking through the scenes, but it doesn’t matter if you are not one of them. Because it is still fun to visit the fake earthy villages or castle relics and imagine how the ancient people lived there. Besides, you can see various stores with local traditional souvenirs and old buildings with exquisite arts of carving. Experience camel riding is also available here.

Type: Wineries

Best Time: All the Year Round

Recommended Visiting Time: a half day

Tickets: CNY 100

Address: Zhenbaeibao Town, Xixia Town, Yinchuan City (银川市西夏区镇北堡镇)

Ningxia is one of the premier wine regions in China. No matter you are a wine lover or not, visiting a winery to take a sip of the wine is a great experience if you travel to Ningxia. In Yinchuan, the top recommended winery must be Chateau Changyu Moser XV which is a high-end winery involving grape-planting, wine-producing, wine culture exhibition and sightseeing. Chateau Changyu got its name after Chateau Chief Wine Maker, the 15th descendant of Moser family, a famous making family and expert in wine grape planting in Europe. Equipped with vineyards, well-manicured lawn, sculptures and water fountain, Chateau Changyu shows a very picturesque environment. On its second floor is the Wine museum and on the third floor is a conference room and wine institute with classrooms.

Type: Points of Interest, Landmarks

Best Time: All the Year Round

Opening Hours:24 hours open

Recommended Visiting Time: 1 ~ 3 hours

Admission: Free

China-Arab Axis Landscape Avenue was built to memorize the China-Arab Economic and Travel Forum’s permanent settlement in Yinchuan. Its main road is 2,100 meters long and 58 meters wide. The miniature of many famous Arabic buildings is displayed in the Culture and Leisure Area in the center of the road. On the two sides of the area are lined with Arabic corridors. The entire landscape avenue looks elegant, unique, solemn and spectacular, white and flawless with a unique style in the bright sun. Walking on the road, you can see some buildings decorated with Chinese features, like Chinese knot, Square Ding, Chinese yard, etc., while the other half is decorated with Arabic features like pyramid statues and onion domes. It is also recommended to visit at night, because the night view is really fascinating.

Type: Points of Interest, Landmarks, Towers, Parks

Best Time: All the Year Round

Recommended Visiting Time:1 ~ 2 hours

Opening Hours:

Tickets: CNY 10

Address: Minzu North Street, Xingqing District, Yinchuan City (银川市兴庆区民族北街路西)

Haibao Pagoda enjoys a long history of over 1,500 years and is praised as an excellent ancient architectural heritage site in China. Standing in the north suburb of Yinchuan City, it is also known as the North Pagoda. The whole structure is a square-shaped 9-storey 11-level pavilion-style brick pagoda. The ground floor is the tower seat, with a coupon door in the middle. The second to tenth floors of the tower have the same plane form, but the size of each part is divided. On the top of the tower, a huge peach-shaped green glazed pagoda is placed on the spires at the four corners, which forms a sharp contrast with the gray tower body, making people feel dignified and bright in color. Apart from the pagoda itself, it is also fun to walk in the park and see local people’s daily activities here.

If you are keen on antique buildings, there are some other places worth a visit, such as Drum Tower, Nanguan Mosque, Yuhuang Pavilion, Chengtiansi Tower…

Type: Night Markets, Food Streets

Best Time: All the Year Round

Recommended Visiting Time: about 2 hours

Tickets: Free

Address: The Intersection of Huaiyuan Road and Wencui North Road, Xixia District, Yinchuan City (银川市西夏区怀远路和文萃北路的十字路口)

Want to hang out at night? Just go to Huaiyuan Night Market. It is a street dedicated to more leisurely strolling, shopping and eating of course. If you are the one who are interested awesome Ningxia food. There are tons of food stalls with delicious food to please both your tummy and wallet at affordable prices. The most popular special dishes include Jiangshui Noodles, Cake Sandwiched with Mutton, Fried Glutinous Rice Cake, Grid-like Deep-fried Dough Twists, Kunmo, Buckwheat Lump in Bowl, Dough Lumps and Jiaozi Dumplings Stuffed with Minced Mutton, etc.