Baotou is a huge slab of urban area that runs for about 20km, being the largest city in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

It comprises three main areas: Donghe, the oldest part of town, to the east, and Qingshan and Kundulun to the west.
Qingshan is a nondescript shopping and residential area, while Kundulun includes the iron and steel works on its western edge. The three parts of the city are well connected by frequent buses, which take thirty to forty minutes to travel between the Donghe and Kundulun districts.