Yellow River traverses into Ningxia and flows north to Inner Mongolia. Before leaving Ningxia, the river zigzags in the border area of the two regions and forms the Ningxia Plain which is benefited by the river water through gravity-fed irrigation. Ningxia is considered as a pearl in the northwest of China, and gain the fame 'the Rich South in Northern Frontier' from ancient times to present days, much thanks to the Yellow River. It is one of the four most well-irrigated plains of China, together with ones around Hangzhou, Chengdu and Guangzhou.
Since the Qin Dynasty (221 - 206 BC) of China, many irrigation projects have been built in the part of Ningxia like Qin Channel of Qin Dynasty, Hanyan Channel of the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD), Meili and Taiping Channel of the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368), Tongji and Qixing Channel of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), Hexi and Zhongwei Channel of the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911) and lots more. The dense irrigation work in Ningxia and advanced agricultural technique makes terrain in the plain a very fertile one and the green silo of China's barren west.
Ningxia turns out many famous specialties. Argali sheep hide and wool, Facai, wolfberry fruit, licorice root, and Helan stone are collectively known as the region's 'five treasures' which are in colors of red, yellow, blue, white and black respectively. Argali sheep hide is among the best in the world. Only Facai plant brings the region a lot of fortune in its export to Guangdong Province, Hong Kong and the Southeastern Asian countries.
The world renowned Great Wall extends through part of Ningxia. There are sections of Great Wall built in Qin, Song (960 - 1279), Ming and Qing dynasties of China in the region. Though visitors may be familiar with the section of the Great Wall near and around Beijing, the ancient Great Wall in Ningxia is of more historic significance due to its natural existence. With time endurance, the Great Wall section in the region has undergone thousands of years of in barren Northwest China and left with only 20 percent in good shape. On the other side, the time makes the section of Great Wall a witness of Chinese history. It is said that the true appearance of Great Wall could be found in Ningxia region.
At the foot of the Great Wall near Guyuan County, visitors can still find historic leftovers such as ancient stoneware, slates and other tool remnant in the long history of China. There are also color earthenware pieces with beautiful patterns, iron weapons or tools as well as coins of the Han Dynasty, buried in this wonderful land. As there were lots of stations near Great Wall along the famous Silk Road, the region used to be dwelled by large numbers of soldiers and farmers in different reigns of Chinese history. This is also one main battlefield of Huns, Mongols and West Xia ethnic warriors in its glorious past.
