Is Genghis Khan buried in Ordos?

No. The site of Genghis Khan's grave is unknown and traditionally believed to lie in present-day Mongolia. The Mausoleum of Genghis Khan in Ordos is a shrine that houses relics and the portable tents of his cult, which were kept by the Ordos Mongols for centuries.

Kangbashi is a new city district built from 2004 to serve as the administrative centre of Ordos. It was planned for a large population at the height of the coal boom and was widely reported as a “ghost town” in its early years; its population has since grown with the move of offices and schools.

Industrial centre · Historic city · Scenic area · Inner Mongolia

Ordos

鄂尔多斯 (È'ěrduōsī)

Plateau of the Yellow River bend, the Genghis Khan shrine and coal

Ordos is a prefecture-level city in south-western Inner Mongolia that covers most of the Ordos Plateau inside the great northern bend of the Yellow River. It holds the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan at Ejin Horo, the Kubuqi Desert with the singing dunes of Xiangshawan, and some of China's largest coal and natural-gas reserves, which made it one of the country's fastest-growing cities in the 2000s.

ProvinceInner Mongolia

Key facts

Province: Inner Mongolia
Administrative level: Prefecture-level city
Area: about 86,800 km²[1]
Resident population: 2.15 million(as of 2020 census)[2]
City established: 2001 (formerly Ikh Juu League)

Overview

The Ordos Plateau is a dry upland of grassland, sandy land and eroded loess, bounded on three sides by the Yellow River and on the south by the Great Wall. It takes its name from the Ordos Mongols, whose name is derived from the ordo, the palace tents that guarded the shrine of Genghis Khan. The Mausoleum of Genghis Khan in Ejin Horo Banner remains the centre of that tradition.

In the early 2000s the exploitation of coal and gas turned Ordos into one of the richest cities in China per head, and a new city centre, Kangbashi, was built south of the old town of Dongsheng. The region is also a centre of cashmere processing and of desert reclamation in the Kubuqi.

Names and nicknames

伊克昭盟 (Yīkèzhāo Méng)
The Ikh Juu League, the name of the region until it became the prefecture-level city of Ordos in 2001.
河套 (Hétào)
The Yellow River loop that encloses the plateau; Ordos is often described as “inside the loop” (河套以内).

History

Fossils and stone tools found at Sjara-osso-gol (Salawusu) in the 1920s gave the region's name to the “Ordos Man” of the Late Palaeolithic. From the second millennium BCE the plateau was home to bronze-using herders whose animal-style bronzes are known as Ordos bronzes. The Qin and Han contested the region with the Xiongnu; later it was held by the Xia of the Tanguts and by the Mongols. From the fifteenth century the Ordos Mongols guarded the Eight White Tents, the portable shrine of Genghis Khan. The present mausoleum buildings were completed in 1956.

1922–1923
Sjara-osso-gol excavations
The French Jesuits Émile Licent and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin found Late Palaeolithic human remains and tools on the Salawusu River.
c. 1500–100 BCE
Ordos bronzes
Knives, belt plaques and ornaments with animal motifs, typical of the steppe cultures of the region.
127 BCE
Han conquest of the Hetao
The general Wei Qing drove the Xiongnu from the river loop, and the Han founded the Shuofang commandery.
15th century
Ordos Mongols guard the shrine of Genghis Khan
The Darkhad, a hereditary group of guardians, have performed the rituals of the Eight White Tents ever since.
1956
Mausoleum of Genghis Khan built
Permanent halls with domed roofs replaced the tents at Ejin Horo.
2001
Ordos city established
The Ikh Juu League became the prefecture-level city of Ordos.

Landmarks

Temple or shrine
Mausoleum of Genghis Khan
成吉思汗陵 (Chéngjísīhán Líng)
A memorial shrine rather than a tomb, with three domed halls; seasonal ceremonies are performed by the Darkhad guardians.
Nature
Xiangshawan
响沙湾 (Xiǎngshā Wān)
Dunes on the edge of the Kubuqi Desert whose sand hums when it slides.
Museum
Ordos Museum
鄂尔多斯博物馆 (È'ěrduōsī Bówùguǎn)
Museum in a boulder-shaped building in Kangbashi, with Ordos bronzes and the prehistory of the plateau.
Modern landmark
Kangbashi
康巴什 (Kāngbāshí)
The new administrative centre built from 2004, with wide avenues, monumental squares and modern public buildings.

Neighbourhoods

Dongsheng
东胜区 (Dōngshèng Qū)
The older commercial centre of the city.
Kangbashi
康巴什区 (Kāngbāshí Qū)
The planned new district on the Wulanmulun River.

Food

Hand-held mutton
手把肉 (shǒubǎròu)
Boiled mutton from the Ordos plateau, eaten with salt and garlic.
Sour porridge
酸粥 (suānzhōu)
Fermented millet porridge of the Han communities of the Hetao.
Whole roast lamb
烤全羊 (kǎo quányáng)
The banquet dish of the Mongol table.

Culture

Ordos is the guardian of the cult of Genghis Khan in China: the Darkhad keep the rituals of the Eight White Tents, and the great spring ceremony is held at the mausoleum each year. Ordos Mongol songs and wedding customs are known for their ceremony, and the region's Han communities preserve the culture of the Shanxi and Shaanxi migrants who settled the Hetao.

Getting around

Ordos Ejin Horo International Airport lies between Dongsheng and Kangbashi.
Railways link Ordos with Baotou and Hohhot to the north and with Shaanxi and Shanxi to the south.
The main sights are spread across the plateau and are reached by road.

Day trips

Kubuqi Desert
库布齐沙漠 (Kùbùqí Shāmò)
The desert along the south bank of the Yellow River, known for large-scale sand-control planting.
Salawusu site
萨拉乌苏遗址 (Sàlāwūsū Yízhǐ)
The Palaeolithic site in Uxin Banner in the south of the plateau.
Jungar Zhao
准格尔召 (Zhǔngé'ěr Zhào)
Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Ming and Qing in Jungar Banner.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Ordos Municipal People's Government — Ordos Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Ordos — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)

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