Huhehaote torch relay

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On the 8th of July it was Hohhot's turn to welcome the torch. We went to the central square pretty early in the morning, and twice it seemed the parade was going to go past the square, with all people suddenly moving to one side of it.
But actually, the torch hadn't even been lit yet. It was shown live on the big screen but unfortunately, the exact route was never made public and was also changed at the last moment to prevent anything bad happening.

So actually, nobody really knew where and when the torch would be. So we never actually saw the bloody thing! The whole parade didn't even last longer than an hour....
It was still fun to watch the people on Xinhua square moving about in similar T-shirts with 'I love China' and 'zhong guo yia you' printed on them. The latter is the official cheer for this Olympics, meaning something like ''You can do it China, faster!!!''.

The other day we had another outing with the staff from my school. This time around we went to a Mongolian cultural fairgorund kinda thing with a restaurant and loads of displays and mini museums.
One about the role of the horse in Mongolian culture, another about the local gemstones and other natural rocks to be found underground. There was a building looking like an emormous drinking cup, with a statue of late Genghis Khan in there.
The guy in Mongolian costume guarding it, was supossedly the 15th or-so descendant of Him!

The early evening was spent in the restaurant with what I'd like to call, quite a dazzling show of singing, dancing, Humai and Matouqin music. In fact, the number of staff and performers far preceded the number of visitors!
It was quite a sight and definitely worth going there for a meal in the summer season if you're around!
The name of the place is Cao Yuan Feng Qing Yuan and is some 10 kilometers south of the centre.
Buses go there, so inform at the local CITS, and you should be fine.

Until next time!

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Photos

Hohhot leg of the torch relay.
Xinhua square.

Mongolian Ovoo.
These are often kept as a symbol of earth and sky.

Yeeehaaa!
Note the colourful golf wagons in the background to drive us around the compounds....

Rather funny looking plants...
They're 'abundant' in the Chinese countryside

Comments

[zussie]

he lieve broer,
Mooie plaatjes!!Hier gaat het ook allemaal nog oke.Tijd gaat alleen erg snel.Misschien kunnen we nog een keer skypen voordat ik terug ga holland toe.Sms maar Kussie zussie

[maarten]

olympics!
jonge jonge ...gezellig hoor..dat je dat effe meemaakt daar de olympics ) great ! kan niet beter:) australia is huge ..,yes i agre but i am interesting in some other parts of the world ..like Afica again or Asia ..or south amerika ...and uerope ..its just different to be between THE backpackers again ) will just work here for the whole year ,,thats it ) he take vare ...jelous...u there ) indonesia will be there ...recieve like 1400 $ after tax per two weeks :() ;laters bro