IN STEP WITH THE STEPPE

Some of Inner Mongolia's pastoral herders, whose ancestors led nomadic lives, are raising livestock in modern ways

Vast stretches along Expressway 216, which connects urban Ordos to its rural Otog Front Banner, lie uninhabited. More animals than people can be found in this part of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region where trucks carrying coal are often the only sighted vehicles on the highway.

Other than its coal reserves, which are among the world's largest, the region produces mutton, milk and wool. It has iron ore and rare earth, and among more modern industries, wind and solar power. Lately, it has gotten into data mining.