Situated just 58kms northwest of Yinchuan, the Helen Mountain range is an impressive and truly stunning sight in stark contrast to the surrounding arid desert.
These high mountains overlook the Yellow River and feature more than 5,000 images carved into the rocks. First discovered in the 1980s, the ancient images mainly feature animals, birds and rural scenes. Fantastically detailed, the carvings provide a rare insight into ancient life in this part of the world.
Although ancient carvings can be seen all over the world, there are not many sights like this in China and the Helan Mountain range is an interesting place to stop for a while if you are exploring this region of China. Although now empty, the landscape around the mountains was once a hive of activity as a number of tribes lived here.
The closeness of the Mountains to Yinchuan makes this a good place to visit on a daytrip. It is also possible to continue on to nearby towns and cities in Ningxia Province as buses often stop here on their way through. Make sure you take plenty of supplies as there are no restaurants around here.
Getting There & Away
Access is from the city of Yinchuan, which has its own airport with regular flights to places such as Beijing (1 hour, 30 minutes) and Xian (1 hour). It is possible to take a bus from the large bus station near the airport to the Helan Shan Mountains (1 hour).