The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, rich and beautiful, which was founded on May 1,1947, is the first region in our country where the regional autonomy of the minority nationalities was realized. Inhabited by 49 nationalities, Inner Mongolia has a population of 22,840,000, including 3,700,000 Mongolian people and more than 800,000 people of other minorities. It has an area of 1,183,000 square kilometers. The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has eight leagues and four municipalities under its jurisdiction. Huhhot is the capital of the autonomous region. From east to west Inner Mongolia borders on eight province and autonomous regions, that is , Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, Shangxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia and Gansu. Mongolia and Russia lie to the north of Inner Mongolia, the boundary with the two countries extending 4221 kilometers.
Inner Mongolia is rich in natural resources. It has long enjoyed the reputation of being endowed with "forest in the east, iron in the west, farming in the south, animal husbandry in the north, and as for coal, everywhere". The Inner Mongolia Prairie, with the total grassland area of 880,000 square kilometers which accounting for 74.4% of the whole area of Inner Mongolia, ranks first among the five great prairies of our country. The land of 176,000 square kilometers is covered with forest. The total storage of timber is 946,000,000 cubic meters, which accounts for about 10% of the national total storage. Inner Mongolia contains nearly 1000 rivers and ten lakes. There are more than 1000 species of plants, 93 species of fish, 362 species of birds and 114 species of animals in Inner Mongolia. Now 49 species of animals are designated as the major animals protested by the state and the autonomous region.

Oronqen nationality

The Oronqen nationality is a minority with smaller population in our country. In the Oronqen language, the word "oron" means the top of the mountain while the word "qen" means people. Therefore, the word Oronqen means "people living on the mountain" or "people using reindeer". The Oronqens living in the Oronqen Autonomous Banner, the Hulun Buir League, which lies at the east foot of the Great Hinggan Mountains, make a living by hunting wild animals, raising livestock and growing some crops.

Daily-Used Articles Made of Birch Bark

The daily-used articles of the Oronqen people are mostly made out of birch bark. For example, bows, basins, wooden pails, boxes for needles and thread, trunk and so on are all made out of birch bark. They are engraved with colorful designs, functional and pleasing in form.

National Handicraft Articles and National Daily-used Articles

National handicraft articles mainly includes Balin stone carvings, Jixueshi carvings, the handicraft articles carved out of jade, agate, animals bones and animal's horns, gold or silver jewels, ornaments and other handiwork made of such metals as brass. The famous national handicraft articles are Silver Horse Ornament-Gaining an Immediate Victory, and Silver Horse Ornament--Arrival of the Good Fortune. The national daily-used articles (referring to the articles which the people of minority nationalities need in their daily life) are mainly as follows: Mongolian folding chair, Mongolian chess, snuff bottle, notional toys, copper hot pot, machine-made copper hot pot, sliver bowl, ox horn cup, Mongolian-style hat, Mongolian yurt, Mongolian boots, Yongshi brand boots, saddle, the sword placed under the pillow for dealing with surprise attacks, knife with the horse head-shaped handle, prince's waist sword, Love Mongolian Knives, IM brand cloth piece-wool-padded toys, Changcheng brand tapestry, etc.

Wool and Goatshair Textiles

The wool textile industrial bases of Inner Mongolia have been set up in Hohhot, Baotou, Chifeng, Dongsheng, Tongliao and Hailar. The famous and quality products are as follows.
Ordos brand goatshair sweater, Luda brand wool sweater, Huangfei brand knitting wool, Rongguan brand goatshair muffler, Changcheng brand 99-line hand-made carpet, Luzhou brand dyed adhesive-bonded wool carpet, Tiantan brand antique-imitating carpet, Feima brand 100-line hand-made Qianlong carpet, Baoma brand 65215 jacquard woolen blanket, Wanping brand 46510 multi-color jacquard woolen blanket, etc.

Alcoholic Drinks
Damingta Ningcheng laojiao (white spirits), Xiangyang Chen Qu liquor, Wanshanlikou wine, Hongrong brand Hongmao liquor, Genyang brand red bilberry wine, Panlong brand sallow thornberry wine, Tuowang brand white spirits, Sour milk koumiss, Xing-an brand specially-brewed red bilberry wine, Narsong brand narsong liquor, Feidie brand beer containing 12% of alcohol, Hailar brand beer containing 11% of alcohol, etc.

Animals, Plants and Others

More than 600 species of wild plants, which are economically valuable, grow in Inner Mongolia, such as hazelnuts, shiny-leaved yellow horn, Red bilberry, acorn, narrow-leaved oleaster, black moss and mushroom. More than 500 species of wild plants, which have medicinal effects on diseases, also grow in Inner Mongolia, including saline distance, membranous milk vetch and so on. A lot of wild birds and animals live in Inner Mongolia, including swallow, duck, turtledove, sable and fitch. Sable, fitch, pilose antler of a young stag, deer's penis, deer's tendor and so on are all valuable traditional Chinese medicine. Moose's nose, bear's paw, "China Medical Stone", Balin Color Stone and other things are all the famous quality products of Inner Mongolia.