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After having spent 9 months in Hohhot, it was about time for me to go and see the grasslands which Inner Mongolia province is known for. On Monday morning the weather wasn't looking too good at first, in fact, the last few weeks we had loads of rain here in Hohhot. (something to do with Beijing not wanting any rain during the games...?)
But luckily later on it cleared up so the next staff trip was on its way to Xilamuren, the nearest of the three grasslands near Hohhot.
It was a lovely drive to the north of the city, where the road wound its way up the mountains.
Due to all the rain these last weeks, the mountains were actually quite green, and it gave some nice views of the road and valleys we came through.

Just 2 hours later we arrived after a short drive on a dirt road leading off the main road.
Basically there were collections of yurts everywhere, each with their own little house and horse riding facilities.
Ours had one large yurt which functioned as a restaurant and another 8 or so for sleeping. They weren't the kind that you expect to see in outer Mongolia, made of fabric.
These were more the concrete kind, you could say. But they were comfortable enough, and they gave the place a real Mongolian feel. Lunch was lots of mutton and some noodle soup.

The afternoon was spent walking around the grasslands and a bit of beauty sleep on a bed of rocks and stones. We decided that lying in the grass was too un-adventurous.
Late afternoon the beers came out, and the sunshine made it a lovely day to spend there.
The smell of fresh grass, loads of flowers, the sound of the wind and laughter.....

.....and then they started slaughtering.

No seriously, it wasn't much, in fact only one sheep and I was sitting far enough not to have my appetite spoiled.
But I did find it a bit gruesome. Especially the way they killed it. It seemed that they first cut a hole in it's belly and then either ripped the main artery or squeezed it, I'm not sure. Anyway, the poor thing let out a scream and gone it was.
Then they skinned it and the whole thing went pretty quickly actually.
Just a bit sad for the other, say 10 sheep that were looking from within the little truck standing right next to it.
I guess it's the traditional way of doing it in the grasslands, I'm just not sure if dinner that night was the sheep from the day before, or the actual sheep that we saw killed that afternoon.
In any case, dinner was sheeps' ribs, legs and what not.
Ofcourse washed down with beer, wine and the notorious bai jiu.

Opposed to most westerners, the Chinese when visiting the countryside enjoy making a bit of noise.
So we celebrated with 10 minutes worth of fireworks and accompanying techno music.
But it was all good fun and after having drunk some water to wash down the mixture of forementioned alcoholic drinks, I was back on my feet again till 2 am.

The night we spent in a frenzy climbing yurts, trying to drive off in minivans and burning all the fireworks cartons and boxes on the campfire. Unfortunately, the firework hadn't all come out yet (surprise, surprise...), and with us warming ourselves standing right next to it, evidently it hurt one of us. We didn't need immediate intensive care or anything like that , but defenitely a good amount of cold water was needed (and more alcohol to ease the pain).

Oh yeah....and then it was six in the morning....being woken up by fire crackers and a wake up call in a language I didn't understand.....Aaaarrrgghh!!!!
Breakfast consisted of a spicy broth containing about every part of the sheep that in the west we either process into unrecognisable sausages or animal feed.
So I was pretty happy that we left early to get back to 'civilisation' to get a proper meal.
Nice enough for the people that are used to eating this kind of food, but if you're not, it might just be a bit harsh on your stomach after an evening of beer, wine and bai jiu.

The busy summer time is nearly over (pphhff..) so soon I hope to explore a bit more of Hohhot's surroundings, like Erlianhot, the border town with outer Mongolia and Erdos, a rich Mongolian mining town south of Hohhot.
Till then..!

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