BEIJING -- As living standards have improved in recent years, people's desire to travel has also increased, which has motivated some local areas to target tourists by promoting unique ethnic experiences.

At early dawn, on the Xilamuren grassland in north China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Batu, the family patriarch, goes to tend to the horses, while his wife prepares a Mongolian-style meal.

Meanwhile, Batu's two younger sisters and some youths from the village ride their motorcycles to a crossroad section and wait for tourists who have come to visit a famous Lama monastery near the village.

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The local Mongolians see this as an opportunity to make money, as the tourists eat and live with local families during their stay.

In the Batu's yurts, which are essentially tents, tourists can enjoy special Mongolian milk products and meat, then spend the day riding horses across the grassland, while at night they can partake in the traditional entertainment--singing and dancing around a bonfire.

In the past, Batu's family lived a life dependent on animal husbandry. But due to droughts and overgrazing, the family barely made ends meet. In recent years tourism emerged as an increasingly popular way to provide income. Hosting eager visitors has enabled the family to build a new brick house and buy motorcycles and cars.

"I have made many new friends from Beijing, Hohhot, Baotou and even Guangdong province--my vision has broadened," Batu said with a big smile. "Some friends from southern China have even sent me pictures of their hometowns and have invited me to visit--I never imagined this before."

A vast area, Inner Mongolia contains a bounty of tourism resources, such as forests, grasslands, deserts, and lakes. The ethnic minorities in the region possess cultural characteristics that seem to fascinate most tourists.

Hao Chengzhi, a scholar on Inner Mongolia culture, calls the cultural differences the most charming aspect of the area's tourism.

"By experiencing the unique local culture and being exposed to the customs, tourists gain a lasting sense of happiness," Hao said.

Data shows tourism revenue in Inner Mongolia surged 28.6 percent year-on-year over the past five years, with total revenues during the period reaching 248.3 billion yuan ($38.2 billion). This has made tourism a new economic growth driver.

"We strive to develop tourism into a strategic pillar industry in Inner Mongolia, increase people's income and improve their livelihoods by beefing up the industry," said Ma Yongsheng, vice director of Inner Mongolia's tourism department. He estimates that tourism revenue will reach 88 billion yuan this year.

In Ningxia Hui autonomous region, south of Inner Mongolia, tourists with various accents crowd into the Zhengbeibao film-production base in the northwestern suburbs of Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia.

They busily take pictures in familiar movie scenes shot in popular films such as "Herdsman," "Red Sorghum," and "A Chinese Odyssey."

Built on the remains of two ancient castles, the Zhengbeibao studio creates powerful, desolate, and grayish scenes typical of northwestern China.

"I'm awed by the ancient and bleak scenes as well as the unique culture here," said Li Juncheng, a tourist from Zhejiang Province. "They are vastly different from the culture of southern China."

The Ningixa government plans to develop tourism into a major industry, with the sector's contribution to local GDP rising from 4 percent to 5 percent in five years.

Yet any rush to expand tourism should be tempered, according to Hao, who said tourism in regions where ethnic minorities are concentrated has become the new engine in boosting local economic growth, but warned that at the same time the traditions and culture of ethnic minority groups should be well preserved and enriched.