These peaks form part of the Helan Mountain range and the natural border between the two Chinese provinces of Ningxia and Inner Mongolia. On one side lies the baked and parched Gobi desert and the other holds the still quite dry but altogether more hospitable city of Yinchuan. It took the coach about an hour to successfully navigate through the mountain pass, at which point the scenery abruptly changes from jagged and dangerous to flat and dangerous.