Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia
Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia | 7-Day Summer Retreat on the Grasslands
Dates: 15–21 August 2027 · 7 days | Guests per trip: 6 (Women only)
Musician and Host
Highlights + Benefits
Tap each to read more
+ It is rare, as a traveller, to be welcomed into a home as a friend. On this journey you stay in two: a musician's and a herder's. Both left the grassland for the city, and both came back. Over meals and long evenings, you hear in their own words why they returned, and what the grassland gives them that the city could not.
+ Every day has a plan, but the pace inside it belongs to the grassland. The cows are milked when they are ready, the sheep come home before dark, and dinner waits for the light to go. You feel it most on horseback: a horse feels it when you tense up, and settles when you do. By the end of the ride, so have you.
+ Khoomei, Mongolian throat singing, is on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage: one voice carrying two notes at once, a low hum and a whistle above it. Aogen has sung it on stages abroad. Here he sings it at sunset outside his family's yurt, with the morin khuur (horsehead fiddle), where the music comes from.
+ On a hilltop above the pasture, you walk three times around the family oboo, a cairn of stones and blue scarves, and add a stone of your own. At dawn your hands are warm from milking; by breakfast you are pouring the salted milk tea you just learned to make. Nothing here is put on for visitors. You are simply invited in.
+ The most coveted night of the week is on a hilltop. Your timber cabin looks straight down on the Morigele, the river that folds back on itself again and again across the plain. Hotpot for dinner, then the light going over the bends below. The rest of the week is just as comfortable: a five-star hotel in Hailar, guest yurts with hot showers, the Shangri-La on the last night, and three Toyota Prado SUVs with two guests to a car.
Who hosts you
The People Holding This Space
These are homes, not venues. The families host us the way they would host friends: one table, one kitchen, the spare rooms. Open a card to meet them.
Rancher and Host
Mijiddorj & Bayar
Meet them
Bilingual Host
Puyu Host
Meet them
Daily Program
Tap a day to open it
Arrive in Hailar. If weather and access allow, watch the evening light from Hakeya Mountain. Mongolian medicinal hotpot for the first dinner. Night in a five-star hotel in Hailar.
Drive from Hailar to a private ranch on the Morigele River. An easy walk up to the family's oboo, a barbecue lunch on the ranch, and afternoon tea on the grass. Dinner is hotpot at Muyun Mountain Top. Night in a cabin above the river.
A slow morning at Muyun Mountain Top, with an optional stop at a private ranch on the river's north bank. Lunch in town on the way, then on to Aogen's family home. Pastries and boiled mutton, an outdoor dinner, and at sunset khoomei, the morin khuur and traditional Mongolian music in front of the yurt. Night with the family.
Move to Mijid Ranch and settle in. A slow afternoon with the family, try on a deel if you like, sunset on the grass. Stars after dinner if the sky is clear — there is no town light out here.
Optional sunrise watching. Learn to ride a Mongolian horse with a rider beside you (about an hour, beginners welcome), and a tractor ride across the pasture. The afternoon is left open: nap, read, walk out on the grass. Sit by a cozy camp fire in the evening.
Start the day with the family: milk the cows, bottle-feed the lambs and calves, take the sheep out. Learn Mongolian fried pastries and milk tea with the mother of the house, then a herder's breakfast. After lunch, an easy walk along the cliffs at the stunning Hulun Lake, then on to Manzhouli. Dinner in town. Night at the Shangri-La.
Breakfast in Manzhouli, then the drive back to Hailar for your flight home.
Where you sleep
Every Night A Good One
Five places in six nights, each chosen for where it puts you: a city to land in, luxury cabins on a hilltop above the river, two family homes on the grass, and a lake-view hotel on the Russian border. Every stay has its own bathroom and shower: in your room, or at Mijid Ranch, a private one a few steps from your yurt.
Swipe to see all five nights
Night 1
Hailar
Five-Star hotel
A soft landing after the flight: view rooms in the regional capital, and a Mongolian medicinal hotpot dinner to start.
Shared or single room.
Night 2
Muyun Mountain Top
Summit cabins
Timber cabins on the hilltop above the Morigele River, the lazy river that folds back on itself across the plain.
Shared or single cabin.
Night 3
Aogen's family home
Guest yurts
A guest yurt at the family home, with its own bathroom and shower. Khoomei at sunset outside.
Shared by two · guest yurts with their own bathroom
Nights 4 & 5
Mijid Ranch
Yurts on a working ranch
Two nights so the pace can drop. Up early for the milking, long open afternoons, stars after dinner.
Shared by two · private bathroom and shower a few steps from the yurt.
Night 6
Shangri-La Manzhouli
Lake-view rooms
The border town: onion domes, Russian bread, Cyrillic shop signs, a few kilometres from the line.
Shared or single room.
Rooms are shared by two, twin or double, and solo guests are matched with a roommate before the trip. Only two single rooms are available, at + US$2,750.
Reserve your place ↓
One departure · six places
Seasonal and local, built around beef, lamb and dairy. Milk tea first, salted and hot, then hand-cut boiled mutton and fried pastries: this is how a Mongolian household receives a guest, and you'll receive it in each home.
At Mijid Ranch you learn the fried pastries and the milk tea yourself, with the mother of the house, and sit down to a herder's breakfast. A Mongolian medicinal hotpot in Hailar on the first night; dinner in Manzhouli on the last.
Vegetarian options are very limited on this journey. Tell us before you book.
Hulunbuir is the far northeastern corner of Inner Mongolia, on the borders of Russia and Mongolia. The journey starts and ends in Hailar.
Step 1 — Fly into China
If you're coming from overseas, fly into one of China's major international hubs: Beijing (PEK/PKX), Shanghai (PVG) or Guangzhou (CAN) are the most convenient.
Step 2 — Get to Hailar
In summer, Hailar Airport (HLD) has direct domestic flights from many Chinese cities, including all three hubs. From Beijing the flight is about two hours; from Shanghai about three and a half.
Step 3 — We take it from here
Share your arrival details with us and we will meet you at Hailar Airport on Day 1; plan to land by early afternoon. On Day 7 we drive you from Manzhouli back to Hailar Airport, about two and a half to three hours, so book your flight home for the afternoon or later.
Six women, a Puyu bilingual host who stays with you all week, and three Toyota Prado SUVs with drivers, two guests to a car.
Every activity is optional. If you would rather sit with a cup of milk tea and watch the grass move, that is part of the journey too.
Most days stay close to one place. On the few days we move between stays, a drive can take two to three hours across open grassland, with breaks along the way.
The pace is moderate: easy walks, about an hour of beginner riding, and uneven ground on the ranch. You don't need to be fit, only happy to be outdoors in changing weather. Sunsets, Hakeya Mountain and anything outdoors depend on the sky on the day, and the plan bends to follow it.
Reserve Now
Departure
August 15–21, 2027
Duration
6 nights · 7 days
Location
Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia
Group Size
6 women
Early Bird
USD 5,950
USD5,950
per person · sharing a room
Single room + US$2,750Only 2 single rooms
US$700 deposit secures your place
Booking for this departure opens soon. Write to us and we will hold your place.
- Six nights' accommodation, two guests per room (two single rooms available)
- All meals and activities in the itinerary, with tea, soft drinks and drinking water every day
- Three Toyota Prado SUVs with drivers for the whole journey, including Hailar airport pick-up and drop-off
- Puyu bilingual host throughout
- Travel accident insurance
- Flights to and from Hailar
- Visa fees (check the regulations for your country of origin)
- Your own travel insurance (required; the accident cover we include is basic)
- Alcohol and personal expenses
Rooms are shared by two, twin or double. Solo guests are matched with a roommate before the trip; we introduce you to each other by email once the group is set.
Only two single rooms are available on this journey, at + US$2,750. They can be added at checkout, first come, first served.
We understand that plans can change. To ensure fairness for all participants and to keep our retreats running smoothly, please review our cancellation and payment policy carefully before booking.
Deposit Policy
- A US$700 deposit is required to secure your spot at the retreat.
- 100% deposit refund for cancellations made 60+ days before the retreat start date.
- 50% deposit refund for cancellations made 30–59 days before the retreat start date.
- No deposit refund for cancellations made 0–29 days before the retreat start date.
Remaining Balance
- The remaining balance is due 30 days before the retreat start date.
- Cancellations made 0–29 days before the retreat start date are non-refundable for the remaining balance.
Retreat Minimum Attendance
- We will notify you 30 days prior to the retreat start date whether the minimum participant requirement has been met.
- If the retreat is canceled due to insufficient enrollment:
- You will receive a full refund of your deposit and any paid balance, or
- You may choose to transfer your payment to a future retreat.
By paying your deposit, you acknowledge and agree to Puyu Retreat’ Terms & Conditions, including this cancellation and payment policy.
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions