Regions & prefectures
ChinaRegions & prefectures
Ningxia
The smallest autonomous region, home of the Muslim Hui and a fast-rising wine region.
- Capital
- Yinchuan
- Status
- Autonomous region
- Region
- Northwest China
- Must-see
- The Western Xia tombs
- Local specialty
- Goji berries, lamb, eight-treasure tea
The Hui, Chinese-speaking Muslims descended from Central Asian merchants who settled as early as the Tang, make up a third of Ningxia’s population. The Yellow River has irrigated a fertile plain wedged between two deserts here for two millennia. At the foot of the Helan mountains, the tombs of the Western Xia, a Tangut dynasty wiped off the map by Genghis Khan in 1227, raise rammed-earth mounds. The local vineyards have won international medals since 2011.
What to see there
Places, dishes and traditions tied to this territory.