China-Mongolia cross-border tour opens between Erenhot, Zamyn-Uud

A cross-border tour covering Erenhot in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Zamyn-Uud in Mongolia officially opened Saturday, with the first 108 tourists embarking on the single-day trip.

Streamlined entry procedures are allowing participants to join tour groups with only their identity cards, without applying for passports or visas in advance.

Licensed travel agencies handle all procedures, including submitting tour group lists, screening traveler information and issuing travel permits through multi-system parallel approval.

The itinerary links distinctive cultural and tourism resources on both sides of the border.

In Erenhot, known as China's "Dinosaur City," tourists see sites related to dinosaur fossil excavation, and at the border, they marvel at the city's national gate scenic area.

In Mongolia, they experience border-town scenery and duty-free shopping before returning to experience the lively atmosphere of Erenhot's night market.

"Everything went smoothly, and I'm very happy. I want to learn about the local scenery there as I am looking forward to it. I want to take beautiful photos with my sister, and I want to see the cattle and horses and the grasslands there," said tourist Dou Zhiyan.

Leveraging policy advantages of its pilot free trade zone, Erenhot has been diversifying cross-border tourism offerings, driving coordinated growth in cross-border trade, accommodation, catering and transportation while creating more opportunities for residents to increase their incomes.

"This China-Mongolia cross-border tourism route is a convenient and beneficial cultural and tourism product that we have launched by leveraging the integrated reform of border areas. Next, we will further enrich our city's tourism offerings, continue to develop and improve distinctive resources such as our dinosaur geological park and dinosaur museum, attract Mongolian tourists to our city for study tours, wellness tours, self-driving tours as well as trade tours, and promote the deep integration of trade, tourism and cultural development along the China-Mongolia border," said Han Lizhi, deputy head of Erenhot's tourism bureau.

China-Mongolia cross-border tour opens between Erenhot, Zamyn-Uud

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation into Tesla's certification that its new Cybercab meets all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).

The probe, formally designated as an Audit Query, was opened on Sept. 3 and covers an estimated 1,000 Cybercab vehicles, according to an NHTSA investigation document made public on Friday. It will examine the process and technical data Tesla relied upon when certifying the Cybercab, as well as related issues. Tesla began commercial deployment of a small number of Cybercab vehicles in Austin, Texas, on Thursday and notified the agency that it had certified the vehicles as compliant with all applicable FMVSS. Tesla also told the NHTSA that it plans to gradually expand commercial deployment of the Cybercab to include additional vehicles and locations.

The vehicles lack permanently attached conventional manual controls, such as a brake pedal, gas pedal, steering wheel and mirrors, according to the NHTSA.

The agency said the inquiry will examine, among other issues, the extent to which Tesla's certification depended on determinations that certain FMVSS are inapplicable to the Cybercab.

In the United States, the NHTSA establishes vehicle performance requirements, while automakers must certify that their vehicles meet applicable standards before entering the U.S. market, subject to agency oversight to confirm compliance. The NHTSA said it conducts investigations when certified vehicles appear not to adhere to those requirements.

U.S. regulator opens probe into Tesla Cybercab self-certification