Reitervölker
Unlike the arid desert/steppe environment near by, the Hetao plains are fertile grasslands quite suitable for pastoral and agricultural activities, and was frequently used by various Eurasian nomads as a staging area for raiding east into the Central Plain and south into the Loess Plateau and Guanzhong Region. Throughout Chinese history, this region was of major strategic importance against northern invaders, particularly during the Han and Tang dynasties.