Text by Xie Chen / Photo by E Bo

The map of China is shaped like a rooster heralding the dawn. The Hulun Buir Grassland is on the rooster's comb.
   
The plain was named after the handsome Hulun and beautiful Buir, two young Mongolian lovers in a legend. The young lovers are separated and become the lakes Hulun and Buir.

Today, the lakes Hulun and Buir nourish 253,000 square kilometers of land in today's Hohhot League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The area is the home of many minority ethnic groups, including Xiongnu (Huns), Xianbei (Sienpi), Nuzhen (Nuchen), Qidan (Khitan), Mongolian, Daur, Oroqen, and Ewenki, and it is an important place for the festive occasions of the nomadic groups in north China.
    
The Hulun Buir Grassland is known as the Kingdom of Pastureland and has more than 1,000 species of plants. It is one of the plains that have remained unpolluted and have balanced ecological conditions. On the grassland are green grass, beautiful flowers, zigzag rivers, crystal-clear lakes, sheep and cows, and herdsmen's yurts (nomadic homes) sending forth the fragrance of wine and of tea with milk.

(Source:china-pictorial.com)