Resident Wangchuge watches his sheep, which he can also monitor on the same screen from his morden yurt.[Photo by Satarupa Bhattacharjya/Lin Hong/China Daily]

The prefecture-level city of Ordos, located in the region's south, has an area of more than 85,000 square kilometers but a population size of just 2 million or so. With a dominant Han population, and around 11 percent Mongolian, the ethnic mix includes Manchu and Hui groups.

Ethnic Mongolians comprise 30 percent of the banner's population of 78,000, with the majority estimated to be involved in raising livestock and agricultural activities. The banner, which was established in 1980, has 68 villages and four towns.

More than 2 million domestic animals, mostly sheep, are raised each year, according to local government officials.

The outside world has long associated Inner Mongolia with images of wild horses running through the grasslands. But horse racing, the popular recreational sport in the region, appears to be more relevant to the tourism industry today than to society.