Yulin (Chinese: 榆林; pinyin: Yúlín) is a prefecture-level city in the Shanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the north, Shanxi to the east, and Ningxia to the west.

Yulin played host to the 11th CHIME (European Foundation for Chinese Music Research) conference in August 2006.

To the north and northwest of the city lies the Ordos Desert, though the countryside is very green due to the many small shrubs which have been planted to slow the process of desertification.

The city is based in a valley which extends north–south, which rises to a large vantage point to the north east, from which there are views of the west and northwest.

[5] Lake Hongjiannao is an important breeding habitat for relict gull, a species classified as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

[6] Yulin has a continental, monsoon-influenced semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk), with very cold, rather long winters, hot and somewhat humid summers.

There is a new oil-field project (2005+) just to the west of Yulin which is drilling wells for natural gas, and this has brought a good deal of money into the local economy.

This new oil/gas development is the current largest onshore project cooperated by the PetroChina and International Energy Company (Shell) in Mainland of China since 1999 (Product Sharing Contract (PSC) signed).