Sainshand is the capital of Dornogovi province. It is 463 km from Ulaanbaatar city.

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. There are buses to and from Ulaanbaatar.

By train

Sainshand Railway Station

Trains departing from Sainshand go either south to Zamiin-Uud or north to Ulaanbaatar. There are 2 daily trains to and from UB, plus express trains on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday with fewer stops. There is a daily train to and 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
276	Ulaanbaatar - Sainshand - Zamiin-Uud	1:38	2:08	daily express train
275	Zamiin-Uud - Sainshand - Ulaanbaatar	22:50	23:30	daily express train
286	Ulaanbaatar -Sainshand	07:30		daily
285	Sainshand - Ulaanbaatar		19:40	daily

See

• Provincial Central museum, Altanbulag Street No:A50, II bagh. Su - Su, 0800-1700. The Noyon Khutagt Danzanravjaa (1803-56), a well known Mongolian writer, composer, painter and medic, was born about 100 km southwest of Sainshand. The museum has a collection of gifts presented to Danzanravjaa by Chinese and Tibetan leaders, costumes used in his plays, Buddhist statues presented to him by the 10th Dalai Lama, and some of his paintings. He was also very interested in traditional medicine, so the museum has a collection of herbs. 2000MNT; Camera 50000 MNT; Video 50000 MNT. (updated May 2023)
• 1 Danzanravjaa Museum. (updated Aug 2024)

Do

You can visit the Hamriin Hiid Monastery about 50 km south of the town (about 40,000 ₮ per car). The drive through the desert is less than 1 hour. 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 absorb "Enerji". For those who like Feng Shui or Zen Buddhism, it is the best place for cleansing and performing the appropriate rituals along with the locals.

Sleep

There are hotels near the train station and near the government building.

Go next

Routes through Sainshand

Irkutsk ← Ulaanbaatar ← Choir ←

N  S

→ Zamiin-Uud → Beijing