China attractions - The Resonant Sand Gorge (Xiangsha bay), is situated at the north edge of the Kubuqi Desert, 3 kilometers away from the 210 state highway and 44 kilometers from Baotou in the north. It is more a place of natural beauty than of historical importance. Backed by the Kubuqi Desert, the dunes assume a crescent shape with a height of 110 meters and gradient of 45 degrees. It received its name from the echoing "Shhhh" that the sand makes as you step on the surface. It is filled with junes of dunes trapped within steep rock walls. It's said that the noise of sliding sand, after which the place is named, was thought by Marco Polo to be demons seeking to lure travellers to their death.
The Kubuqi Desert, meaning "bowstring" in Mongolian, lies to the south of the Yellow River like a long band extending about 400 kilometers from east to west. Generally, the sand dunes are 10-15 meters high and the moving dunes make up 80% of the total area of the Kubuqi Desert. Some of the sand dunes on the edge of the desert move so fast that they meet Maowusu Sand Land in the west. This forms a natural phenomenon just as if people were shaking hands and has given birth to the famous tourist attraction - Resonant Sand Gorge (Xiang Sha Wan).
The Resonant Sand Gorge located 50km south of the city proper, is more a place of natural beauty than of historical importance. The locals have long considered the area a barren pointlessness, ungrazable and desolate. The Gorge is a part of the vast Gobi desert that starts just to the south of Baotou and that spreads over Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang provinces.
Tourists there can try camel rides, parasailing, sliding the dunes or simply building sand castles.
How to get there: The easiest way to visit the Dunes will be on a travel agency. Independently it is not so easy, although cheaper. Take a bus heading towards Yimeng from in front of the railway station. Alight at Wayao Village, that is about 5km from the Gorge, and you may either walk, hitch or hire a taxi on. It is also possible to take a bus to the town of Daqi, and from here a taxi will be about RMB50 return. A taxi from Baotou to the gorge and back should cost less than RMB200.