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China Travel Guide » Places in China » Inner Mongolia Province
Places in China: Inner Mongolia Province
Forty-nine ethnic groups occupy Inner Mongolia. The people are made up of seventy-nine percent Han Chinese, seventeen percent Mongols and the rest are largely in the eastern portion of the province and made up of Manchu, Daur, Hui, Korean, Ewenki and Oroqen people.
Many of the people of the province are involved in subsistence living with herds which roam from area to area within the large province. Goats and sheep are sources of income for many of these nomadic Mongolians. There is a small amount of wheat farming done but most crops fail in the cold, northern climate of Inner Mongolia.
The province is located on the northern edge of China, next to Russia and the Republic of Mongolia, which is not a part of China. The population of over twenty-three million people sparsely occupies the large land area of 1.2 million square kilometres in the province. The very low population density of twenty people per square kilometre reveals how unpopulated the province actually is.
Climate and temperature account for much of the low population. The land is fertile enough, but the long and cold winters make the growing of most crops unprofitable.
Inner Mongolia was the homeland of the warrior, Genghis Khan, whose troops invaded China and then went westward toward Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Several deserts, including one of the planet's largest (Gobi), occupy the province as well as a number of mountains. The largest portion of the province, however, is made up of plains where the herds find enough vegetation to exist.
The friendly Mongolian nomadic herdsmen make visitors feel welcome to ride horses and travel with them for periods of time in order to learn more about the life styles of modern Mongols in China today. Tourists can sleep in the yurts, which are temporary circular tents, and eat the food that they eat. The best time to arrange a visit to Inner Mongolia is from June to September of the year, when the weather is warmer.
The largest city in the province is Baotou although the capital of the province is Hohhot. These two cities have several attractions for tourist appreciation, from mausoleums to temples and monasteries. Steppes are popular tourist attractions as well where one can spend a couple of days living with the herdsmen, enjoying traditional Mongolian activities such as archery, horseback riding, wrestling and throat singing.
Scientific-minded tourists may enjoy seeing the energy production facilities where solar and wind energy are produced.
The local people now have tours available and have more modern facilities for eating and spending nights in hotels. There are specialty tours for those interested in camel riding, cycling, hunting or fishing and even archaeology. Shopping can be mixed in with learning about northern Chinese folklore.
Major cities in Inner Mongolia:
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