A cross-city bicycle competition that started on Aug 12 also included the route in Ordos. The 100-km route provided a unique grassland route for the cyclists, connecting the city’s grasslands, pastures and folk culture tourism areas together.

Ma Mingming, a cyclist from Beijing, said he has high expectations for the route that passes through Ordos and that he hopes he can give his best performance on the day.

Li Guojian, deputy mayor of the city, also said he has high hopes for the event, adding that such a competition is good practice for Ordos to develop its tourism in different ways.

Codoon, one of the biggest online sport communities, is also hosting a marathon in Ordos’s grasslands, where participants can enjoy running through the wild lands with clean air and shining stars hanging low above their heads.

The large grassland preserve has made Ordos an ideal location for other high-end sports such as horse racing. The 2017 China Equine Cultural Festival horse racing competition was held on Aug 19 and 20.

According to the tourism bureau, the city received over 5.8 million tourists in the first half of this year, up 22.5 percent year-on-year.

Tourism generated almost 17 billion yuan in revenue during the period, up 21.8 percent year-on- year.

The Inner Mongolian government plans to invest 50 billion yuan in the local tourism sector by the end of 2017. As of May, it had invested 18.6 billion yuan in regions such as Ordos, Hohhot, Bayan Nur, Baotou and Arshaan.