Discovering the purity of Inner Mongolia

I might have gone to Harvard and the London School of Economics, but at the moment I am feeling rather sheepish. Why? Because I've been coming to China for more than three decades and have lived here for half that period, but I only recently made my first visit to Inner Mongolia. What a mistake! 

The largely unspoiled natural beauty I found in the vast Hulunbuir grasslands, near China's border with Mongolia and Russia, was astounding. Anyone who visits will invariably want to return again and again for the landscapes, the horses, sheep, cattle and camels, and not least of all the local food and Mongolian culture. And therein is the conundrum of the region: how to promote sustainable economic growth while preserving the area's pristine environment, which must be carefully balanced by the provincial and local governments. 

The Inner Mongolia grasslands are largely untouched by modern development and relatively unvisited. Maybe that's a good thing, as too many spectacular places in the world have overdeveloped what nature lovingly crafted over millions of years. But there may be a perfect solution that Chinese like to call win-win and that we call having your cake and eating it too. That solution is ecotourism, and is perfect for this area, where agriculture predominates and many herders struggle to make a decent living.