Ningxia

Ningxia or the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region locates in the Northwest of China. Ningxia is surrounded by Gansu, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia provinces. There are the Great Liupan Mountain, the steep Helan Mountain and desserts in Ningxia. The Yellow River runs right through the region. Ningxia is also famous in its produce, such as the pearl rice and wolf berry.

A Story about Yinchuan

Yinchuan (or the Phoenix city) is the capital of Ningxia. It is said that long time ago there were seven sisters of phoenixes and they went on a trip to see beautiful mountains and rivers. After a long flight, they found a green land surrounded by a yellow dessert. The youngest sister was attracted by this beautiful jade-like green land and decided to stay. She said goodbye to her sisters and then landed facing to the Yellow River and tailing on the Helan Mountain. She spread her two wings and turned herself into the beautiful city - Yinchuan.

Hui Scarfs

Traditionally, Hui girls start wearing scarfs around nine years old. Hui women use different colors to distinguish the age or generation of women. Girls and brides usually wear green color scarfs. Middle aged women and women with children wear black color scarfs. And old women or women who have grand children use white scarfs.

Helan Cliff Arts

Ningxia is rich in cultural relics. The Helan arts are famous ancient carvings and paintings on the rocks and cliffs in the Helan Mountain area. The earliest carvings can be traced back to the Chunqiu Period (770-476 B.C.). There are more than 1,000 pieces of art works and they are the records of the natural phenomena, the history and distinctive local features over the last 2,000 years.

The Great Wall

The ancient Great Wall is one of the world's wonders. The Great Wall in Ningxia was initially built in Qin Dynasty (306 - 251 B.C.), a total about 200 kilometers. Then Sui, Song and Ming dynasties had continued the building of the Great Wall. The part of the Great Wall in the Northeast of Yinchuan (built in Ming, 1522 A.C.) has been the favorite of many geological scientists. There were two shifts in this 3.5 km long Great Wall. One part moved 1.54 meters clockwise, and the other shifted 0.95 meters vertically. Scientists guessed that the movements were due to an earthquake in 1739, but they could not explain why the other ancient buildings near the Great Wall were not destroyed.

Respect to the Nature

Sapetou is a city located in the South of the Geliteng Dessert, the fourth largest desert in China. The depth of the sand layer is between 70 and 100 meters. Some experts called it the ancestor of desserts or the king of sands. There are about 300 sand storms a year in the region, which cause the sand hills marching toward the green land. The Zhongwei people, lead by a group of scientists, found a way to grow plants in the dessert. Now they have created a 45 km long and 0.5 km wide green corridor to protect the railroad and the city. And finally the movement of the sand hills is under control.