Raw displays of power and poise

On a sweltering August afternoon, two horses gallop across an outdoor arena at breakneck speed. Riding each of the horses is a young woman decked from head to toe in traditional Mongolian costume. Suddenly, as the pair clasp their arms and hands around the horses' necks, they throw the rest of their bodies to the left of the horse and are soon hanging on at their steeds' side as the horses continue their hell-for-leather run.

This performance is a daily spectacle at the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan Tourist Area, Ordos city, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, one that supplements a grand tour of the mausoleum with a raw display of what lies behind deep-rooted Mongolian horse culture.

No wonder then, that these performances and other elements of horse culture are drawing more and more tourists to Inner Mongolia. The numbers of people visiting the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan Tourist Area have been growing at an average of 10 percent in recent years, official figures show, and last year, there were 800,000 visitors.