Blogs from Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China, Asia - page 7

Ofcourse we all know about the horrible eartquake that destroyed so many people's lives in the south of China. I happened to be on Qinhua square in central Hohhot for the first of three consecutive days of national mourning, on which each day at 14:28, the exact time of the earthquake in Sichuan province, three minutes of 'silence' is held to commemorate the lives lost. In China this is done by sounding the alarm and all traffic sounding their horns. It was actually a good experience to be there at that time, It really felt like this huge populous country was united for three minutes, all thinking about the same thing. I just wanted to share that with anyone interested, unfortunately, the video quality of my new camera isn't too good. I also added some pics ... read more

The spring is here!!!! It feels like only a few weeks ago that it was -25 at night and -15 during the day. And now; A whole week of +25 degrees! That should be an indication of wha the summer is like around here! Night temperatures still drop to around 5 degrees though, Hohhot being at an elevation of over a 1000 metres. So me and my colleague went out and rode our bikes down south, some 10 km's south of Hohhot is the so called Zhajun tomb. Built over many years, with brick and mud, it stands 33 metres tall and has quite a story about it. Apparently, one of the 4 most beautiful women of ancient China, Wang Zhaojun, sacrificed her life by marrying Gengghis Khan to help unify the Han and Hun people ... read more

For the ones of you that have read some of my other blogs from Hohhot...; The capital of Inner Mongolia has many spellings that are all right Huhehaote, Hohhot, Huhhot, you name it, they're all one and the same..... Just thought I'd tell you, don't want anyone to be confused now... I've recently bough an electric bike which is absolutely great! I'm so happy with the newly acquired freedom that every chance I've got (which basically means my days off) I drive it out the city to explore. And therefore a new blog. I decided to record some of the cultural landmarks of Hohhot this time, and whatever else came along. First I took my bike for a spin towards the east of the city, where the originally named ''East River'' lies, which basically serves as ... read more

Enjoying my last days off, I decided to wander through Hohhot a bit. First took a taxi to the north, by pointing in the direction of the mountains. After getting out, it was still a long walk to the mountains, and even then I didn't manage to actually get to the foot of them. After having been to Datong, I really appreciate this city now, It really is a beautiful city, modern, developed and especially at night when all the lights are on, it's a great pleasure to walk through the streets. This last week, temperatures have finally gone up to ''bearable'' and I can't wait until spring really sets in. Hohhot (Huhehaote) was founded in somewhere in the 16th century by a guy named Altan Khan (family of.......?), and is famous for the surrounding Mongolian ... read more

My first blog of many to come from Hohhot, the capital of the province of Inner Mongolia in China. Hohhot is located northwest of Beijing, 10 hours by overnight train, and has a population of more than 2 million people, of which 20% mongol and 80% Han Chinese. My expectations of the city were very different from the real thing, it's a very nice city to spend a year in, almost like a chinese version of Las Vegas. The buildings are really nicely lit up, lots of neon lights and parks and the lot. Ofcourse it is winter now (-10 at night) so it will look a bit different, but absolutely not what I thought it would look like. On the train here , coming from Qinhuangdao on the eastcoast, I saw the landscape surrounding the ... read more