EcoChina | Livestock migration: a glimpse of nomadic culture in NW China's Inner Mongolia

CHIFENG, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Saintsogt, 55, a herdsman in Bayin-undur of Ar Horqin Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is busy with the annual summer migration covering a distance of about 100 kilometers. For the past four decades, he has completed the migration every year.

Saintsogt's pasture is a part of the Ar Horqin Grassland Nomadic System, which was listed as one of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) sites by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on May 20, 2022. Herders here still keep the traditional nomadic customs today.

"The travel time has been shortened to three days from eight," Saintsogt said. "The rain makes pasture grow better, and the livestock have enough forage."

This year, herders from more than 1,200 households and 128,000 livestock in Bayin-undur joined the migration.

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