Why it looks like this

Bayan Nur, in Inner Mongolia, is the main town of the Hetao irrigation district: for centuries, canals fed by the Yellow River have watered this plain at the desert's edge. The city itself is a modern grid, but the land around it is ruled by water — long straight irrigation channels and field roads stretch in every direction.

The name is Mongolian for 'rich lake', a reminder that wetlands and the large Wuliangsuhai lake lie in the same river-fed basin.