Yakeshi

Yakeshi (牙克石; Yákèshí) is a city in Inner Mongolia Province in China.

Understand
Yakeshi has a population of 391,627 (including surrounding towns; the city itself might not be more than 100,000). It is situated next to the Hailar River 70 km east of Hailar and on the north side of the Greater Khingan Range.

The original name for the city, Xuguit Qi, came from the Mongolian word for the area. Its name was changed to Yakeshi in 1983 when it was designated a county-level city.

Get in
The city is connected by rail to Harbin and Beijing (27–29 hours) to the south and east and to Hailar (1 1½ hours) and Manzhouli (with further connections to Russia) to the north and west

The nearest airport is in Hailar with flights from Beijing (1h50, ¥1,240 but with discounts outside public holidays) and Hohhot. The 70 km ride from the airport is around one hour and ¥180 by taxi

Get around
Only a few public buses. The center is manageable by foot. There are plenty of taxis, shorter trips for ¥5.

Eat
Centre of nightlife is along Shengli West Street (勝利西街) around Jianxing Hotel (建興大酒店) where there are dozens of barbeque restaurants serving plentiful skewers of local mutton and beef (and sheep eyes, bull balls and other delights). Wash down the greasiness with some ice cream with fresh hawthorn.