How about a trip to China Far North

Larger than Colombia, China’s 3rd largest province, Inner Mongolia, is, geographically at least, the very epitome of what Outer Mongolia would look like, wrapping around the south and east of the huge north Asian nation. Unsurprisingly there is a really strong Mongol presence here, with traditions, cultures, ways of life and even the people having clearly originated from Mongolia itself. The Mongol population in this region of China is, most bizarrely, larger than the Mongol population in Mongolia itself and is one of a true herding nature with large herds of cattle, or horses! The province is a very dry, rocky and dusty region for the most part, with huge tracks of flat and featureless terrain stretching from the far west to the north east of the region. Only here, towards the far northeast does the elevation vary considerably and the land see vegetation reliably grow in the foothills of the mountains and rivers surrounding the many forests. This area is surprisingly lush and green and superb hiking territory if you love the colour green, although the towns here do have a very eastern bloc feel to them, architecturally. There are also large stretches of the Great Wall here, although sadly much of it has fallen into considerable disrepair owing to the remoteness of the territory and the locals desire to use the building materials for their own purposes