Baotou is Mongolian for 'place where deer live'. Hence it is called by its other name, The Deer City. Baotou is the largest city which incorporates the largest green area in Inner Mongolia.

The city has a profound history and abundant cultural relics. Human settlers moved there as early as six thousand years ago in the Neolithic Age. During the Warring States Period (476BC-221BC), the Zhao State built the wall in the present suburb of Baotou, which is said by Chinese historians to be the oldest section of the Great Wall. In the contemporary age, Baotou became a port and a town of great commercial importance for the fur trade, which relied on the waterways of the Yellow River. The railway construction from Beijing expanded to Baotou. However, Baotou is most famous for the discovery of the Baiyun'ebo iron mine in the early Twentieth Century.   

Visit the Mongolian yurts, drink a bowl of warm milk tea, and enjoy eating mutton with your hands, which are all indispensable ways to experience the Mongolian customs in Baotou. Saihan Tala Grassland is the only grassland in China that is located in a city center. Some 100 kilometers away in Ordos's desert, the Genghis Khan Mausoleum is also a must for visitors to Baotou as it is not too far away.

If the ancient Great Wall, grassland, desert and the Mongolians created the unique culture of the city, rich mineral resources allowed it to develop as a modern industrial city, reputed now as the 'steel capital on grassland' and the 'capital of rare earth'.

Baotou is located at the foot of the Yinshan Mountains, and on the bank of the Yellow River. The people living in the vast land have made some brilliant achievements. Baotou has successively won the titles of National Civilized City, Garden City, and National Excellent Tourist City. This leisure capital situated on grassland well displays its charm with its natural resources and cultural assumptions.