Horses graze at Shandan Horse Ranch in Gansu

Horses graze at the Shandan Horse Ranch in Zhangye city, Northwest China's Gansu province, Aug 23, 2014. The Shandan Horse Ranch, which locates in the Qilian Mountain's Damayin pastureland, covers an area of 219,693 hectares. The history of the ranch can be traced back to 121 BC when famous Chinese general Huo Qubing established the ranch specially to herd horses for the army of China. Since then, the ranch, which was well-known for the Shandan horse hybrids, has therefore been the base of the military and royal horses through several dynasties in the past. With the weaker demand of horses in the army, the ranch was transferred to China Animal Husbandry Group in 2001.[Photo/Xinhua]