Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is rich in resources and even holds the dominant position in some of the resources. It is vast in territory with a total of 1.18 million square kilometres about one eighth of the country. The main agricultural areas are Nenjiang Plain,West Liaohe Plain and Hetao Plain with 6.8338 million hectare cultivated land. They are the most important grain and oil bases of this autonomous region and even of the country.Occupying 12.8 percent of the country's total forest area and stocks of timber is 950 million cubic metres,which is about 10.8 percent of the country's total stock,and it stands fourth among all the provinces.

Inner Mongolia boasts of its vast grasslands.The natural ones,being the chief animal husbandry base in the north,occupy one of fourth of the country's total grasslands.The yearly average livestock numbers over 55 million,supplying raw materials of wools,goathair,meat,sheepskin and cattlehide for the industries of textile,leather,dairy,bone adhesives and food in large quantities.

Inner Mongolia is also rich in mineral resources.Possessing among 120 varieties of minerals, the proven reserves are above 80 varieties and 55kinds of the reserves rank in the first ten.Twelve varieties of main minerals rank second and 11 secondary varieties rank second and 11 secondary varieties rank third in the country's total reserves.The proven coal reserves occupy one fourth in the country and the reserves of rare earth metal rank first in the world. So Inner Mongolia can be described as "forst in the east,iron in the west,farming in the sourth,animal husbandry in the north and coal everywhere",not to mention the abundance of wind,light,wild animal,plant and tourism resources.

The farming and animal hushandry of the region are developing rapidly,the industrial structure is becoming more rational, and the household economy peculiar to the region and the new-type contract responsibility system for managing grassland and stock-breed -ing are getting perfect.All these have promoted the development of productivity in the region.Various kinds of township-run enterprises have come into being.Industry is developing with stability and coor- -dination following reforms and readjustment,economic efficency has greatly improved,and the development of light and heavy industrics is basiclly coorinated.

Sightseeing on the Grassland Nestled in the Inner Mongolia prairie there are the vast and fertile Xilamuren Grassland, Huitengxile Grassland, Gegentala Grassland and Hailar Grassland, pleasantly cool in summer. People welcome visitors, serving fresh milk and Mongolia food. They also offer bonfires, camel and horse rides, hunting, boating, horse races and wrestling. ª¥ ¡¡strolling in the Forest In Inner Mongolia, there is a famous mountain range, the Greater Hinnggans. Nearby are virgin forests, including 2,400 hectares of red spruce. Here the trees grow to 18 meters and have a life-span lasting over 100 years. ¡¡Hot Spring Inner Mongolia has abundant geothermal energy. Chifeng has the Hexigten, Ningcheng and Aohan hot spring. The waters at Ningcheng reach 960C, the hottest spring in China. The spring water contains 40 chemical elements, including radon, silicon, fluorine and radium. With low traces of radioactivity, the springs here can cure dozens of diseases, including nervous and digestive disorders, arthritis and skin diseases. ¡¡Historic Sites In eastern Inner Mongolia there are many historic sites. Chifeng was the birthplace of the Liao Dynasty (907-1125),and is home to the Zhongjing and Shangjing palaces, Liao temples and monasteries, old city walls, and eight Liao Dynasty towers, six grottoes and one kiln. In Inner Mongolia, there are Wudang Temple, Kundulun Temple, Genghis Khan Mausoleum, Resonant Sand Gorge, Pagoda of Ten-Thousand-Volume Huayan Scriptures, Tomb of Wang Zhaojun, Xilitu Zhao Temple, Dazhao Temple, The great Mosque and Diamond Throne Pagoda and so on.