Located on the upper reaches of the Yellow River, in the east of the northwest China, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region is one of the minority autonomous regions at the provincial level, where people of Hui nationality (Moslem) have inhabited. Neighboring 3 provinces of Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Shaanxi, it covers the land area of 66,400 square km. It governs 3 municipalities, 1 district, 17 counties and 7 municipal districts. Its population totals up to 5.62 million, of which 1.904 million is Hui people, covering about 1/3.

Situated at the center of Ningxia plain, Yinchuan is the capital of the autonomous region, and it is also the center of politics, economy and culture with a long history of over 11,775 years, and a population of 1 million.

The topography of Ningxia features low in the north and high in the south. In the north is the Ningxia plain with the average height of 1,100 - 1,200 meter above the sea level, called as the Yellow River irrigated region, enjoying the fame of ”Land flowing with milk and honey as lush southern type field”. In the south is the southern mountainous area including tableland in Lingwu and Yanchi, the basin in mountains around the Loushan Mount, Loess hills and Liupanshan mountainous region, with the average height of 1,300 – 1,500 meters above the sea level. Generally, Ningxia is the inner land, with the climate of continental variable zone. The average temperature is around 5°C - 9°C and the rainfall around 200 – 400 mm, and reduces gradually from the south to the north. It features long hour of sunshine of about 3,000 hours a year with great gap of temperature during day and night, and the frost-free period is about 170 days.
　

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　[Origin:Ningxia Government Website]