The Xinghe county of Inner Mongolia, the typical region of the farming-pastoral zone in northern China, was chosen as a case study area in this paper. Based on the interpretation of the Landsat-TM data (with two digital images taken in 1989 and 2000 respectively) and the statistical analysis of society, economy and weather data, the land use and land cover change in this area was studied. The preliminary results are as follows: ①Farmlands and pastoral land are the main land use types in Xinghe county. ②Conversion between the farmland and the pastoral land is very intense from year of 1989 to 2000. ③ Regional differences of conversion between the farmland and pastoral land are signiticent, and conversion is caused simultaneously by natural and social-economic influences.