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
