The Inner Mongolia Plateau covers an area of over one million square kilometers. Its topography is simple and complete, with gentle undulations and vast expanses. Low, rolling hills alternate with broad basins. On the vast Inner Mongolia grasslands, there are no significant mountains or valleys. The elevation changes by only 1-2 meters over a distance of 1 kilometer, and "from a distance, it looks like mountains; up close, it's a plain." Standing in a wide depression, one can only see hills surrounding them. Walking uphill, there's no sense of elevation, just an endless expanse of grasslands.
The Inner Mongolia Plateau has a long history of formation. As early as 130 million years ago, the basic outline of the plateau landscape was established. Since then, the crust has been relatively stable for a long time. Through long-term weathering, water erosion, and other external forces, highlands were flattened and lowlands were elevated. The originally uneven surface gradually became flat and uniform, a process scientists call "peneplainization." Between 3 million and 2 million years ago, the Inner Mongolia terrain rose significantly to an altitude of 1,000–1,300 meters, becoming a plateau. Over the past ten thousand years, the Inner Mongolia Plateau has become increasingly arid, with few rivers and sparse surface vegetation. Wind erosion is very weak, while wind forces are strong, leaving many areas covered with coarse sand, gravel, and even exposed rocks, forming gobi and deserts.
The Inner Mongolia Plateau is a windy and lake-rich plateau in China. The eastern part is dominated by grasslands, while the western part is dominated by gobi and deserts. The plateau can be further divided into several parts, including the Hulunbuir Plateau, the Xilingol Plateau, the Ulanqab Plateau, the Ordos Plateau, and the Alashan Plateau.
The Inner Mongolia Plateau is located at a high latitude and has a high altitude, with severe winters and mild summers. It belongs to a temperate semi-arid and arid climate, suitable for the growth of various grasses, making it an important livestock production base in China. The grassland area of Inner Mongolia is 88 million hectares, with eastern grasslands and western desert grasslands. Natural grasslands account for more than 70% of the total land area, and there are 6.7 million hectares of grasslands in the famous Hulunbuir Grassland alone. Every summer, when the grasslands come to life, the blue sky covers the lush green grasslands, looking like an ocean. The gentle breeze stirs up layer upon layer of waves, creating a very moving scene. As early as the 6th century of the Northern Qi Dynasty, there was a folk song singing, "The sky is vast and boundless, the wilderness is vast and boundless. The wind blows the grass low, and we see cows and sheep." This vividly describes the scenery of the Inner Mongolia Plateau at that time. There are six famous grasslands in Inner Mongolia, including Hulunbuir, Xilingol, Khorchin, Ulanqab, Ordos, and Urat.
However, the grasslands of the Inner Mongolia Plateau have shown very obvious signs of degradation, and the sight of "grass without cows and sheep" has become rare. Changing the habit of rearing livestock by nature, adjusting the relationship between livestock and grass, emphasizing the construction of artificial grasslands and feed bases, and preventing further desertification of grasslands have become urgent tasks.