The clan that came back to its roots

More than 300 years ago, the Torghut tribe, an ancient people, undertook a journey that would lead them back to China, the country they had left more than a century before. Cui Jia and Mao Weihua report from the Beyinguoleng Mongolian autonomous prefecture in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Standing outside his yurt, holding his horse by the reins, Dilai watched the buses that carried tourists to the rich, vast Bayinbuluke, or "fertile water", grassland in Heijing county.

"They all come here to take photos of the river, which twists and turns nine times as it meanders through the grassland. For us, though, this is home, the place our ancestors fought hard for," said the 47-year-old member of the Torghut, a legendary ancient Mongolian clan that claims royal descent.