Located within the Hulunbuir Grasslands, Hulun Lake (Hulun nur), known in Chinese as Dalai Lake (Dalai hu), is the largest lake in Inner Mongolia and the fifth largest fresh water lake in China. It is located just to the south of Manzhouli, in the far northeastern tip of the Autonomous Region. The smaller lake to its south, Beier Lake (Beier hu), in fact crosses the border into the Republic of Mongolia.

The lake is a clean paradise with a huge variety of wildlife, from fishes to waterfowl. Ornithologists should have a field day here, for annually the lake is home to over 200 migrating bird species, including swans, gulls, cranes, wild ducks and aigrets. The best thing to do is to take a boat out to fish, bird watch, relax, and possibly swim.

Also worth trying is the cuisine around the lake, that consists almost solely of lake fish, a selection of the hundreds of varieties that can be found in the lake. It is also possible to camp around the lake, although it does get bitterly cold in this region, even in summer. Thick clothing, tents and warm sleeping bags are essentials. It is advisable to check with the Manzhouli PSB (Gongan ju, in the CITS building at 121 Erdao jie) before you set off to camp at the lake that the area is still accessible to foreigners for.

How to get there: The best way to access the lake is to set off from Manzhouli, rather than from Hailar. From in front of the Sino-Russian Frontier Trade Market (Bianmao shichang), take a minivan, which costs RMB20 for a return trip. As an alternative, it is also possible to hire a car (normally of the Russian make Volga) for around RMB100 for a return trip. Taxis will cost you around RMB80 return. Chinese and Russian tourist buses also head for the lake, from either the CITS building (see above) or Xinhua jie.