Erenhot

Erenhot 二连浩特市 • ᠡᠷᠢᠶᠡᠡᠬᠣᠲᠠ
Sub-prefecture-level city
Dinosaur monument at the local park
Erenhot Location in Inner Mongolia
Coordinates: 43°39′N 111°59′E / 43.650°N 111.983°E / 43.650; 111.983Coordinates: 43°39′N 111°59′E / 43.650°N 111.983°E / 43.650; 111.983
Country	People's Republic of China
Region	Inner Mongolia
League	Xilin Gol
Area
• Total	4,015.09 km2 (1,550.23 sq mi)
Elevation	963 m (3,159 ft)
Population (2010)
• Total	74,197
• Density	18/km2 (48/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	011100
Area code(s)	0479
Website	elht.gov.cn

Erenhot
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	二连浩特
Traditional Chinese	二連浩特
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Èrliánhàotè Wu Romanization nyi3lie1ghau2deh4 Yue: Cantonese Jyutping ji6lin4hou6dak6
Mongolian name
Mongolian	In China －   (Eriyen hota) In Mongolia －  Эрээн хот (Ereen khot)

Erenhot (Mongolian: ᠡᠷᠢᠶᠡᠡ ᠬᠣᠲᠠ Эрээн хот; Chinese: 二连浩特; pinyin: Èrliánhàotè, commonly shortened to Ereen or Erlian) is a county-level city of the Xilin Gol League, in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, located in the Gobi Desert along the Sino-Mongolian border, across from the Mongolian town of Zamyn-Üüd. There are 74,197 inhabitants (2010 census) and the elevation is 966 metres (3,169 ft).

The border town is a rail port city and the largest hub for cross border trade between Mongolia and China. When authorities opened the town up in 1992 to international trade, Erenhot underwent a transformation growing from 8,000 people then to an estimated 100,000 people including migrant workers.

The Dabusan Nur salt lake to the north of Erenhot provided an economic boom to the city's chemical industry during the late 1990s. The lake has provided Erenhot with a large water supply which also contributed to the rapid growth of the city and economy.

As a destination for wholesalers moving goods across the border, the city hosts a large trading market, International Trade City. Built in 2006 the mall is "a block-long, three-story wholesale market that houses 527 tenants who sell silk fabrics, rabbit and fox furs and other commodities."

Erenhot is a stop on the Trans-Mongolian Railway, making it one of two rail ports in Inner Mongolia as of 2010 (the other port is at Manzhouli on the Sino-Russian border). The rail link has struggled under the strain of growing trade with Mongolia and several new rail lines are under construction to ease the burden including two railways from different parts of China to a border port in East Ujimqin Banner.