A sparsely populated old mystical land covering 66,400 square kilometers, Ningxia is a miniature of all uniquely beautiful and diverse landscapes and cultures of western China, from the boundless mighty golden desert to lush primitive forests on Mt. Helan, and from mysterious ancient ruins to rustic Hui customs. In the endless desert is a vast jade-green lake, where thick reedy marshes sway in the breeze and fish swim in the water. Great flocks of birds fly freely in the high sky…

Since the 1980s, about 60 movies have been shot here, such as The Herdsman, Red Sorghum, The Ballad of the Huanghe River, and The Story of the Pilgrimage to the West, which have caused a sensation at home and abroad, winning various international prizes. China's films go to the world from here -- Ningxia, China's Hollywood.

Western Film Castle

The Western Film Castle, China's only film set with an original ancient castle, is constructed in the Zhenbei Castle in the desert 30 kilometers west of Yinchuan. The Zhenbei Castle was originally a frontier fortress during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and has served as a film studio since the 1920s. In 1992 the well-known writer Zhang Xianliang built up the Western Film Castle based on the props used for shooting many popular pictures in the place with a rich connotation of Western China's culture. 

The film castle, of primitive simplicity, originality, and desolation, has brought a new life to the ruined fortress. Many front-page films were born here such as the world-acclaimed "Red Sorghum" shot in 1980, and the ancient fortress has provided a "runway" for film stars in China to take off. When wandering about in the scenes of the castle, you will feel as if you had come into a dreamlike world. The most extrusive service is that visitors can act at liberty as stars and make their own recordings.

Travelers, however, are not really here for the man-made sights, but for the remote beauty off the beaten track and the best shots for cameras. Riding a camel over sand dunes, hiking in mountainous areas, camping in deep woods, and rafting the turbulent Yellow River are the ideal reasons for exploring this autonomous region.

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