Watching World Cup in a yurt

The great grasslands experience can be rugged, but not if it is cushioned by unexpected touches of luxury, thanks to a pairing with the Shangri-La Hotel Hohhot. Matt Hodges finds out more about crisp white sheets, satellite TV and gourmet cuisine.

War games were once the order of the day on the Inner Mongolian grasslands, those vast tracts of Asian prairie that have seen centuries of power play between Chinese Han and Mongolian armies. They were peopled by ferocious armies, nomadic tribes and wolves.

They have since been replaced by Range Rovers, bonfire dances and wolf pelts lining the inside of Mongolian gers. Instead of shaven-headed warlords, leathery old women haunt roadsides on parked motorbikes to shepherd tourists into their yurt resorts.