Inner Mongolia: Where lambs arrive on plates and brides leave on horses

By Faisal Kidwai (chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2015-07-02

Diplomats on a cultural tour to Inner Mongolia visit dairy giant Yili's factory in capital Hohhot on June 26, 2015. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

On the one hand, there is Yili, the eighth-largest dairy company in the world, in Hohhot, capital of the region and home to three million people.

The giant manufactures more than 1,000 products ranging from milk and ice cream to yogurt, earning Hohhot the title Dairy Capital of China. The company's revenues were nearly $10 billion in 2014.

On the other hand, you can drive down to grassland, less than a two-hour journey, and taste fresh horse milk or homemade cheese prepared by Mongol women in their yurt. A piece of advice: Go slow on the horse milk or you will be bolting faster than the animal to the toilet.

If Yili is the economic crown of Hohhot, then the National Art Troupe is its cultural mecca.

This should be on your must-visit list even if you are on a short trip.