The questions asked the most by visitors before coming to Ningxia.

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When is a good time to come?

In winter Ningxia is really cold, all the vines got buried underground, you wouldn’t see much, although its still very special. Majority of wineries do not have heating, outside temperature can get cold as -25 °c. I wouldn’t suggest to come at that time. The whole city is gray, kind of depressing at least to me.

The vines dig out around end of March beginning of April, and Helan Mountain area starting to turn green. Weather is getting warmer as well. But sand storm mostly happened in spring and stopped by mid to end of May.

Summer can be really hot, the dry heat, under the sun will easily get burnt. Can get to 39-40 degree.

Harvest started by the mid of August, firstly white wines, and the reds mostly toward end of September and beginning of October. During the harvest, wineries reduced the possibility to receive visitors. From mid of October is getting cold, depends on each year.

So, I think between April to October is good time to come in general, then you have to be aware of the weather in different times.

How many days I need?

A lot of people come for a weekend, Ningxia is not that far from everywhere around China. Its quiet center. If you only want to visit wineries, normally each you could do 3 max, 4 only tasting wines. But two days you will have a general ideas of the region.

If you want to have a few relaxing days in Yinchuan combine with tourist attractions, you probably need 4/5 days.

If you want to have enough time to sit and chat and enjoy, then do two wineries.

Do they speak English?

Not all the wineries speak English, it might be difficult to get around with only English, but it is possible.

Can I use Taxi or Didi to get around?

If you go from the city, you can get a Taxi or Didi to go to the winery, But on the way back, it might be a problem. Suggestion is to hire a car to take you around.

Do I need a guide?

If just want to taste some wines, and you can speak Chinese, majorities of the wineries will have someone to give you brief introduction of the wineries. If you want to learn more about the region etc, then hire an experienced guide.

What else can I do in Ningxia?

In Helan Mountain area, there are some tourist attractions, you can visit XiXia tomb, which is a dynasty existed in this area between 1038AD to 1227 AD. They left 11 tombs nowadays called Eastern pyramid, can’t be compare with the pyramid in Egypt or Mayan culture, and it original looks like Chinese pagodas. But the history of Xixia is quiet interesting.

If you like hiking, basically three places you could hike among Helan Mountain, Gun Zhong Kou滚钟口, Su Yu Kou苏峪口, these two is on the east side of the hills, Yinchuan side. You could also go to west side, which is already Inner Mongolia side, there is a tibetan temple called Guang Zong Si广宗寺, locals call it Nan Si南寺. It has a very special vibes. One of the rumor said the most romantic tibetan monk， the sixth Dalai lama 仓央嘉措 was buried there.

You could also consider to visit the Rock Carving Park, the museum is nice, outside you could see the ancient rock carving, the part you shouldn’t miss is the Han Mei Lin art gallery, he is a very famous Chinese artist, many well known art works, e.g. Air China logo, Beijing Olympic Game mascots etc.

Desert Visit, Ningxia is three sides surround by desert. It’s just an hour from Yinchuan to Tengger desert, easy to have a day trip and enjoy the desert safari, camping, hiking, star glazing etc.

Sand Lake, the place is exactly as it sounds like, you can take the boat to get to the desert, the lake itself is home for many birds, good ecosystem.

Sha Po Tou, yellow river passing by middle of desert, it is the view you will see in Sha po tou. Can do desert safari, sand sliding, traditional yellow river rafting with sheep skin rafts.

Moroccan style village, luxury resorts.

Old town of Yinchuan, could walk around, exprience the local life. Two old style building can be visited, Drum Tower and Yu Huang Ge.

Night Market, shouldn’t be missed

There are a lot more to be discovered.

Food in Ningxia?

Ningxia food never failed anyone, proud to say that. Its kind of Hui ( Chinese style of Muslim) based food. Heavily in lamb and beef. Majority of food have a bit chilly, but not very spicy, just for the taste. Shouldn’t miss the BBQ, traditional hotpot, Hui restaurants have many specialties as well. Noodles is good in Ningxia, as well as many different breads.

Which is the closest airport?

Yinchuan Hedong international airport. You also can take train, Yinchuan is the closest city.

Which winery to visit?

There are so many wineries in Yinchuan, some are well know, some are really small, but each one has their specialties. I can’t suggest which one suits to you, really depends on which kind of wineries you are looking for.

My suggestion is, if you have already tried some wines before coming to Ningxia, please go to the wineries you have already tried their wines.

Majorities of people are going to the very famous wineries, but I would suggest you to discover those haven’t been visited yet, the wine is one thing, the people and their stories would be more interesting.

How to organize my visit?

If you do it by yourself, please consider the location of each wineries, the one in northern part of helan mountain can be as far as more than an hour to southern part of wineries, consider the distance.

How do I find a driver?

We have company that we used to hire car for winery visit, if you need, happy to share their contact.

How do we do?

Ningxia is our hometown, happy to share with people all around the world about my hometown. If you are looking for a good experience in Ningxia, could book a tour with us. If you are looking for some information for your visits, but it hasn’t been listed here, feel free to reach out. Happy to spend few minutes to exchange the info for a coffee. If you don’t need guide service, we also can help you organize your tour with a cost. We also can organize tour combine wineries visits and desert etc, this is based on depends.

We are locals, and have been working in wine industry for nearly 10 years, have been doing interpretation, guiding, translation for wine experts, journalists, wine lovers, diplomats, ambassadors etc. If you are looking for an good Ningxia experience, and to learn more about Ningxia wine industry developments, we are the ones can provide that.

CONTACT ME FOR MORE INFO

Email: kikichenshu@gmail.com