Tongliao; Silica Sand, Mongolian Medicine and a Naadam on the Grass

Tongliao sits on 55 billion tonnes of silica sand, a raw material of solar glass, and 46 percent of its people are Mongol. Its university trains Mongolian doctors, and every August the city’s horse-racing festival draws crowds to a grassland 101 kilometres away.

通辽坐拥五百五十亿吨硅砂,这是制造光伏玻璃的原料之一,全市百分之四十六的人是蒙古族。这里的大学培养蒙医,每年八月,城里的赛马节把人群引到一百零一公里外的草原上。

Horqin Sandy Land is one of the richest silica-sand regions in China, and Tongliao holds most of it. The city’s proven reserves exceed 55 billion tonnes, 78.6 percent of Inner Mongolia’s and 5.5 percent of China’s, according to People’s Daily. Horqin Left Rear Banner alone has more than 35 billion tonnes, the most of any banner or county in the country, according to the powder-industry news site cnpowder.

科尔沁沙地是中国硅砂资源最丰富的地区之一,通辽占了其中的大头。据《人民日报》介绍,全市硅砂探明储量超过五百五十亿吨,占内蒙古的百分之七十八点六,占全国的百分之五点五。据中国粉体网介绍,仅科左后旗就有三百五十亿吨以上,居全国旗县之首。

It matters because of what the sand can become. Low-iron quartz sand makes up more than 60 percent of the raw material of ultra-clear glass, which goes into solar panels, according to cnpowder. The banner’s washed sand is 99.05 percent silica and is a raw material for polysilicon purification, and its best grade has so little iron oxide, 0.06 percent, that it meets the standard for high-grade car glass, according to the banner government. Casting sand for car parts and the sand pumped into oil wells to prop open cracks are older markets, according to People’s Daily and cnpowder.

它的意义在于沙子能变成什么。据中国粉体网介绍,低铁石英砂占超白玻璃原料的百分之六十以上,而超白玻璃是光伏组件的主要用材。据科左后旗政府介绍,该旗的精洗砂二氧化硅含量百分之九十九点零五,是多晶硅提纯原料,最好的特选砂三氧化二铁含量只有百分之零点零六,达到了高档汽车玻璃的标准。据《人民日报》和中国粉体网介绍,汽车零部件的铸造砂和注入油井撑开裂缝的压裂砂,是更早的市场。

For now the sand is mostly sold raw. In 2023 the city’s 44 producers shipped about 5 million tonnes, worth ¥1.06 billion, according to People’s Daily. Fuyao Glass is among the companies drawn to the banner, according to the same source, and China National Building Material has a ¥600 million ultra-white sand project there, according to Tongliao Net.

眼下的沙子大多还是原料出售。据《人民日报》介绍,二零二三年全市四十四家硅砂企业外供约五百万吨,产值十点六亿元。据同一来源介绍,福耀集团是被吸引到该旗的企业之一;据通辽网介绍,中建材在那里有一个六亿元的超白砂项目。

At the 2020 census 1,325,826 of Tongliao’s 2,873,168 people were Mongol, or 46.15 percent, just behind the Han at 50.06 percent, according to the city statistics bureau. In Horqin Left Middle Banner they were 72.75 percent, according to the banner’s census bulletin.

据通辽市统计局介绍,二零二零年普查全市常住人口二百八十七万三千一百六十八人,其中蒙古族一百三十二万五千八百二十六人,占百分之四十六点一五,仅比汉族的百分之五十点零六略少。据科左中旗的普查公报,该旗蒙古族占百分之七十二点七五。

Inner Mongolia Minzu University grew from three schools founded in 1958 and was formed in June 2000 by merging the Inner Mongolia Normal University for Nationalities, the Inner Mongolia Mongolian Medicine College and Zhelimu Animal Husbandry College, according to the university’s own history and China Education Online. Mongolian medicine is its signature subject. Mongolian pharmacology was named a national first-class undergraduate programme in 2020, and the university won the right to award doctorates in 2021, according to the Zhihu summary of the university’s site. The city’s statistical reports name only two other higher-education institutions, Tongliao Vocational College and the Horqin Art Vocational College.

据内蒙古民族大学校史和中国教育在线介绍,内蒙古民族大学源自一九五八年创办的三所学校,二零零零年六月由内蒙古民族师范学院、内蒙古蒙医学院和哲里木畜牧学院合并组建。蒙医药是它的招牌学科。据知乎转述学校网站的内容,蒙药学专业二零二零年获批国家一流本科专业建设点,学校二零二一年获批博士学位授予单位。据该市统计公报,全市另有的高校只有通辽职业学院和科尔沁艺术职业学院。

The city is shrinking and getting older. It had 2.752 million residents at the end of 2025, 24,800 fewer than a year earlier, with 11,100 births against 28,000 deaths, and 15.94 percent were 65 or over against 11.69 percent under 15, according to the 2025 communiqué. The primary sector accounted for 26.1 percent of GDP, which reached ¥173.77 billion, according to the same source. In 2024 the city also made 2.697 million tonnes of aluminium and 533,000 tonnes of monosodium glutamate, according to the 2024 communiqué.

这座城市在缩小,也在变老。据二零二五年统计公报,二零二五年末全市常住人口二百七十五点二万人,比上年末减少二点四八万人,全年出生一点一一万人,死亡二点八万人,六十五岁及以上人口占百分之十五点九四,十四岁及以下占百分之十一点六九。据同一来源介绍,第一产业占地区生产总值的百分之二十六点一,地区生产总值达一千七百三十七点七亿元。据二零二四年统计公报,该市二零二四年还生产原铝二百六十九点七万吨、味精五十三点三万吨。

Horqin means “people with bows” in Mongolian, according to Economic Information Daily, and Naadam is built around the three traditional contests of horse racing, wrestling and archery, according to Baidu Baike. Zhurihe grassland lies 101 kilometres from Tongliao and has a racetrack 1,000 metres round. The first Naadam was held there from 20 to 23 August 1985, and in 1995 the Zhelimu Horse Racing Festival was fixed for 18 August each year, according to the same source. Horqin has produced three great narrative folk songs and more than a thousand short-tune songs, according to Baidu Baike.

据《经济参考报》介绍,”科尔沁”在蒙古语里意为”带弓箭的人”;据百度百科介绍,那达慕以赛马、摔跤和射箭三项传统竞技为核心。珠日河草原距通辽一百零一公里,有一条周长一千米的赛马场。据同一来源介绍,首届那达慕一九八五年八月二十日至二十三日在这里举行,一九九五年哲里木赛马节确定在每年八月十八日举办。据百度百科介绍,科尔沁还诞生了三大叙事民歌和上千首短调民歌。

Tongliao has direct high-speed trains to Beijing Chaoyang station, calling at Fuxin, Chaoyang in Liaoning, Chengde South and Miyun on the way, according to the icauto timetable. The fastest takes 4 hours 5 minutes, according to Qunar. An EMU reaches Shenyang in under 1 hour 40 minutes, according to icauto, and from there the G-trains to Beijing Chaoyang take under three hours. Conventional overnight trains still operate, but they take 12 to 16 hours, according to the same source.

据车主指南的时刻表,通辽有直达北京朝阳站的高铁,沿途停靠阜新、辽宁朝阳、承德南和密云。据去哪儿网介绍,最快的一趟用时四小时五分。据车主指南介绍,动车组到沈阳不到一小时四十分钟,从沈阳再坐高铁去北京朝阳不到三小时。同一来源介绍,普速夜车仍在运行,但要十二至十六小时。

According to Qunar, the G3654 leaves Tongliao at 13.07 and reaches Beijing Chaoyang at 17.12.

据去哪儿网介绍,G3654次十三点零七分从通辽开出,十七点十二分到达北京朝阳。