Living in harmony

Inner Mongolia’s ethnic groups build on cultural diversity

When it comes to Inner Mongolia, we usually think of expansive grassland, where cattle and sheep graze beside a meadow. But the Inner Mongolia autonomous region is not only China’s largest pastoral region, but also China’s first provinciallevel ethnic region.

And the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the autonomous region will be held in Hohhot this month.

The region covers an area of 1.18 million square kilometers, accounting for 12.3 percent of the total area of the country, and is home to 25.11 million Han, Mongolian, Manchu and 55 other ethnic groups who live harmoniously.

People from all ethnic groups help each other, work together, and have built the region into a fertile land of culture and inclusive development.

In Hohhot, the story of the “grassland hero sisters”, which influenced generations of young people, has been choreographed into a musical.

And, in Ulanhot, people share their signature dishes in Xing’an Street’s multiethnic community. A food festival has been held for seven consecutive years.

Inner Mongolia shares a 4,200-km border with Mongolia and Russia.

And located at the junction of the Sino-Russian and Mongolian border is Manzhouli, a century-old port city, known as the “window of East Asia”.

Here, you see the integration of styles from the three countries in Matryoshka Square.

As China’s gateway to the north, Manzhouli is also China’s international name card.

While striving for economic growth, Inner Mongolia also pays great attention to the protection of the environment.

Genhe River in Hulunbuir is China’s coldest city, where the annual average temperature is -5.3 C. It is the only reindeer habitat in China.

Over the past 70 years, Inner Mongolia’s economic, political, cultural and social undertakings have developed in an all-around manner, and all its ethnic groups live in harmony.

From left: Herdsmen in Morin Dawa use a traditional Mongolian cradle to coax babies to sleep; a folk show at Xing’an Street, Ulanhot; tourists interact with reindeers at the Genhe River Reindeer Zoo, Hulunbuir.

From left: Children wait in line to perform on stage at Tongliao Mongolian Kindergarten; an artist paints a horse on a wall at Dazhao Temple in Hohhot.

From left: Actors from the musical GrasslandHeroSisters pose for pictures; a Mongolian wrestling class at Chifeng Mongolian Primary School.

Thirty-meter tall matryoshka dolls at Matryoshka Square in Manzhouli, the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.