Bayan Nur, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

🇨🇳 Bayannur or Bayannao'er (巴彦淖尔市; bāyànnàoěr; Bayannaɣur qota, Баяннуур хот) is a prefecture-level city in western Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China. Until 1 December 2003, the area was called Bayannur League.

Bayannur has an administrative area of 65,788 km² (25,401 sq mi). The name of the city in Mongolian means "Rich Lake". The city proper is Linhe District.

The city is served by the Bayannur Tianjitai Airport.

History The Zhao dynasty (403 BCE–222 BCE) controlled an area including modern-day Bayannur, while the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE–24 CE) established a hierarchical Chinese administrative structure. The Qing dynasty (1644–1912) designated this area as part of "Inner Mongolia", but after its overthrow by the Republic of China (1912–1949), Bayannur was assigned to Suiyuan Province. Because of Mongol-Chinese cooperation with the Communist faction in the Chinese Civil War (stalled since 1950), Suiyuan was annexed to the new Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from 1954, although not without controversy because of the province's large and longstanding ethnic Han majority.

Geography Bayannur is located in the western part of inner Mongolia Autonomous region. Neighbouring prefectures are: • Baotou (E) • Alxa (W) • Ordos (S).

It also borders Mongolia to the north. The whole area of the prefecture is 65,788 km² (25,401 sq mi).

Administrative subdivisions Bayannur is divided into one district, two counties and four banners.

Cuisine Located in Hetao Plain, Bayannaoer is the largest agricultural hub in Inner Mongolia. Bayannaoer is famous for "Bameng braised dishes" (巴盟烩菜), meaning "braised dishes".