Sainshand is the capital of Dornogovi province.

Understand

This small city in the Govi is planned to become a major industrial site with mineral processing and a hub between the Tran-Mongolian railway and a new east-west cross-Govi railway connecting major mines with eastern Siberia.

Sainshand
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D       0.5     −12 −23       1.1     −7 −20       1.5     3 −11       3.1     14 −1       8.1     23 7       16     28 14       31     29 17       31     28 15       11     21 8       4.6     12 −1       2.1     −1 −12       1.4     −10 −20 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation+Snow totals in mm NOAA (1961-1990)
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D       0     11 −9       0     20 −3       0.1     37 12       0.1     57 30       0.3     73 45       0.6     82 56       1.2     85 62       1.2     82 59       0.4     69 46       0.2     54 29       0.1     31 10       0.1     14 −5 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation+Snow totals in inches

Get in

As it is a station on the main train-line of the Trans-Mongolian line of the Trans-Siberian Railway from Beijing via the Zamiin-Uud/Erlian border crossing to Ulaanbaatar, there is little public transport otherwise. A paved road was completed in 2013 connecting Sainshand and Zamiin-Uud to Ulaanbaatar via Choir. No word yet if there will be any buses between the cities.

By train

Sainshand Railway Station

There are several trains that stop in Sainshand going either south to Zamiin-Uud and on to China or north from China to Ulaanbaatar. There are 2 daily trains from UB, plus express trains on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday with fewer stops. There are also 1 daily train and an express train on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday from Zamiin-Uud. Local trains stop at every town and city along the way and can have over 20 stops between Zamiin-Uud and Ulaanbaatar.

Train Number	Route	Arrives	Departs	Days
44	Ulaanbaatar - Sainshand - Zamiin-Uud	03:57	04:25	Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday
43	Zamiin-Uud - Sainshand - Ulaanbaatar	01:10	01:50	Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday
286	Ulaanbaatar -Sainshand - Zamiin-Uud	20:00	20:40	Everyday
285	Sainshand - Ulaanbaatar		21:00	Everyday except Monday
286	Ulaanbaatar - Sainshand	22:50		Friday express schedule
285	Sainshand - Ulaanbaatar		00:30	Friday express schedule
276	Ulaanbaatar - Sainshand - Zamiin-Uud	1:38	2:08	Everyday express train
275	Zamiin-Uud - Sainshand - Ulaanbaatar	22:50	23:30	Everyday express train

Do

You can visit the Hamriin Hiid Monastery about 50km south of the town (about 40.000 per car). It's a less than 1h drive thru the desert. The monastery itself is not much more than a collection of stupas, but it's in a beautiful desert location and it's an important place for Tibetan Buddhists and locals come here to aborb "Enerji".

Sleep

The hotel (Twin room T12.000) near the train station is really quite bad. No shower, I got electric shocks using the water tap, and our room got flooded. Better to go into the city.

Go next

Routes through Sainshand

Irkutsk ← Ulaanbaatar Template:Lfarrow Choir ←

N  S

→ Zamiin-Uud → Beijing