Ride in the Royal Grassland.docVIP

Ride in the Royal Grassland China’s capital Beijing is usually haunted by the haze in the spring and autumn， giving people the impression of smoky and blurry sky in the city. That made people who are not familiar with that area spontaneously think lowly of the area around Beijing. This is a misguided opinion， as there is a green paradise in less than 300 kilometers away from Beijing. This place is called Bashang Grassland. Located in Fengning， Hebei， the grassland is 350 square kilometers in the area and 285 kilometers away from Beijing. It is the closest natural steppe to Beijing and thus is called the No. 1 Steppe to the North of Beijing. This grassland is a part of the grand Inner Mongolia Grasslands. Like the rest of the broader grassland， this piece of land also boasts the crystal-like waters， abundant green grass， and hordes of oxen and sheep. Its name in Mongolian just means “abundance in water and excellence in sight”. This No. 1 grassland has the average altitude of 1487 meters. The height alone gives this place an imposing sight as the blue sky seems to be blending in the green land. Its latitude also gives it a unique sight to behold ?C as the typical grassland in the temperate zone， this land sees many windy days and a long winter. However， it has a cool summer and the highest temperature here is not higher than 24 degrees. The beautiful scenes and the mild temperature made Bashang Grassland an ideal place for leisure travel. Its charm was noted by people a long time ago. In the Qing Dynasty， this place used to be the hunting field for the royals and nobles of the empire. They would like to ride in there while hunting deer， foxes and other wild animals that could be seen everywhere. In July and August， the said best time of Bashang Grassland， the emperor would come to the hunting field with his huge entourage. The grand green land crawling with hustling horses and elegantly-clad people were definitely a sight to behold. Being royal thus was one of the mo