The historic house in the border town, restored with its 1900s stone facade intact and Russian-speaking staff on the desk. Rooms are the largest in Manzhouli, and the bar looks straight down the main street.
Hulunbuir is the largest stretch of unbroken grassland in China, running east from Hailar to the Russian border. Five days of driving, herder lunches, river bends at sunrise, and one very strange border town.