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In the far north of China on the Sino-Mongolian border, near thetown of Erenhot (also known as Erlian), you will find the statuesof two towering Brontosauruses. The two dinosaurs are located oneither side of the main highway, their long necks stretching tothe other, until the two dinosaur's mouth meet as if to share akiss. Each dinosaur statue is 34 meters wide and 19 meters high.The span of the two together reaches 80 meters. The ground nearthe kissing couple is littered with many dozen smaller statues ofdinosaurs of all shapes and sizes.
Dinosaurs Fairyland is never crowded, probably due to itsremote location, about 20km outside the town of Erlian in OuterMongolia. However, this means you will have the park all toyourself, except for the occasional men in military uniform thatuse the park as a thoroughfare to the bus station. From the top of a nearby hill, you can see the words DinosaursFairyland written in giant letters, in the same style as theiconic Hollywood sign, spelled out across the ground in bothEnglish and Mandarin. Erenhot is located in the Gobi Desert, in the Xilin Gol league ofthe Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The city was established asthe only train trade route between Inner and Outer Mongolia back inthe 1950's, but the area has been gaining international attentionsince the 1920's with the discovery of dinosaur fossils in theErlian Basin. 14 more images after the break...
Called the "Dinosaur City", Erenhot was once the home ofdinosaurs. In the Cretaceous Period 70 million years ago, Erenhotwas a paradise of lakes, marshes, and thick forests. More than 20kinds of dinosaurs flourished there but the most famous isGigantoraptor erlianensis, an 8 meter-long birdlike predator thatwas discovered in 2005.
Many fossils have been discovered in the area, including thebiggest and best-preserved dinosaur fossil in Asia. Besides thescenic boulevard, the city also has a dinosaur museum and a themepark called “Dinosaur Fairyland”. The arch of the kissingdinosaurs was built in 2007 to showcase the region's reputation asa fossil hot-spot.
