Inner Mongolia

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This blog is all about 内蒙古 .

After staying up too late on Wednesday night, my alarm went off at 4am Thursday morning. After taking a cold shower, because they don’t boil water until about 6, I went across the hall to meet up with Lihau Monica and Zach. Shortly after I arrived Howie came in and he was wired on Chinese canned coffee, I’m not sure what they put in them but whatever it was it let Howie finish his homework and made him crazy. We all left Beida at about 4:30 because our bus left from the Beijing Language and Culture University at 5:30. We were unsure if there would be taxis because it was officially the first day of the National Holiday. We walked out the gates and some people got taxis, there were 21 in our group. Four of us ended up walking the whole way, about an hour, with all of our stuff on our backs. The streets were deserted because the government had told people to stay in because to see the huge spectacle that is the National Holiday parade you have to be invited, so there’s no reason to crowd the streets, just watch from your TV. All we saw was a taxi once in a while, tour buses full of soldiers and other performers as far as you could see, and a few unlucky partiers who were coming out of bars with no taxis around to take them home.

We finally made it on the bus and settled in for the ride. I don’t think any of us knew how much time we would end up spending on that bus. The first day we were on it almost all day long. The first stop was for lunch after about 6 hours on the bus. I’m not sure where we were but it was really pretty. The sky was clear, which doesn’t happen often in Beijing, and there were mountains all around the small town. Lunch was nothing special, but it was good. None of the meals on the trip were amazing but they filled us up. I didn’t expect much more than that since the trip only cost 650 yuan, less than $100 for four day travel, entry to sites, lodging and food. Outside the restaurant there were people selling candied fruit and peanut-brittle like candy. I have some pictures of how they make this Chinese peanut brittle, it’s delicious. I also bought some candied plums which are amazing as well.

After lunch we got back on the bus for an hour or so and soon arrived at a temple. We weren’t very excited because since arriving in China I can’t even count how many temples I’ve seen. However, this one was definitely special. It was built right into the side of a cliff. I have some pictures but I don’t think it does justice to how crazy it was walking next to the railings and being on the edge of a cliff. It was by far my favorite temple that we have visited. Toni and I talked to some of the workers there in Chinese, Toni did most of the talking but I was surprised to realize I could understand most of what they said, finally we were away from the Beijing accent!

After the temple we were off to the Buddhist caves. This meant another couple hours on the bus. When we got to the caves we went in and walked around a bit. It wasn’t too exciting but it was very impressive. They had hundreds of Buddhas carved into the side of the mountain. They also had a small market type area where I bought a lucky bracelet; it is the kind where when it breaks it signifies luck, more about that later.

After the caves we got back in the bus and drove to our hotel. After an okay dinner we got our sweatshirts on and went out. The air temperature was much cooler here than in Beijing. We walked around for a bit but didn’t find much going on. The most exciting part was the locals. Unlike Beijing, the locals in a relatively small city in Inner Mongolia don’t often see foreigners. We had a crowd around us before too long. It was fun to talk to them but a little overwhelming. Before too long we returned to the hotel and played some cards before going to bed. The next morning they had us get up early again, 7:30, just so we could get back on the bus again.

We spent all morning on the bus and eventually stopped for lunch. I didn’t mind the inexpensive food because that usually means less meat. A couple of the dishes had some very peculiar seeds. When you bite into them they make your mouth numb. They put the seeds into the spicier dishes, maybe to dull the pain? Apparently we don’t have them in the US because if we did they would destroy the ecosystem, because no animals in America are crazy enough to eat them. Well Anthony and I decided to put multiple seeds into our mouths so we would be numb, it was a fun lunch. After we finished lunch, we got back on the bus to go to the desert.

The sand in the desert was beautiful; there were dunes as far as you could see. We took a chair lift to the top of the dune where all the action was. At the top they had a tent where they rented out booties to keep sand from getting into your shoes. After paying our 10 kuai for the desert shoes we ran out into the sand to play. We wrestled and jumped down some dunes until we were full of sand, it’s now four days later and I still have sand in my ears. After a little fun we decided to take a camel ride. The camels in China have two humps, which makes them even more odd looking than the camels of the middle-east. They are also much more comfortable. It was a good ride and the desert was really pretty. Along the trail they had made some sand sculptures of Buddha and some other random things, it was very impressive. They had other things to do in the desert as well, such as ranger rides, large open top van rides, four-wheeler rides and so on, but they all came with drivers, and no freedom, so we decided to play in the sand some more. We went out into the desert and found some very steep sand dunes. They were hard to climb up but very fun to slide down. When it was time to leave you have the option to slide down the dune on a sled. We took advantage of this and it was very fun. It goes really fast and you have no control but it was great. They sell pictures of you just like at rides in America. I bought my picture because it only cost 15 kuai, $2. I will take a picture of it and post it on here.

After the desert we took the bus back to where we ate lunch beacuse our hotel was right next door. This city had even less going on then the first night so we just stayed in and went to bed early. The next day we were off to the grasslands. Another early morning, half day trip, and an okay lunch. We eventually arrived and it was really exciting. When we got off the bus there were girls dressed in traditional Mongolian dresses, which I later found out were hand-made, which is very impressive. They were singing in Mongolian and they had a small fancy bowl and a leather bottle. When we got off the bus they poured each of us a shot of 白酒. 白酒 is a Chinese liquor and it’s very strong (112 proof) so for people who hadn’t yet tried it I’m guessing it woke them up. After the singing most of us went to use the bathroom. Since coming to China I have seen some gross bathrooms, but this one was definitely the worst. I won’t go into detail but it was a brick house with three holes in the ground separated by a 2 foot wall between each hole and there a bird living in the ceiling which flew out the window every time you walked in. After putting our stuff in our yurt we headed over to the horse area.

A group of us decided to go on the longest horse ride they offered. It took a while to actually get on the horses because in China you have to haggle for almost everything. No transaction is complete with a little bit of yelling at each other and both parties threatening to leave. We finally agreed on a price and got on the horses. Because of the climate in that area, the horses are very small, which made me and a few other tall Americans look pretty funny. I bought a picture of me on my horse also, which I will put up. It was a good ride, but the saddles weren’t the most comfortable thing. The stirrups were also too short so I got a little sore but the scenery was pretty. We stopped at a small house and got some milk tea, which was quite good. They also had all kinds of milk candies which were interesting, not my favorite. The funniest part of the trip was after drinking the tea. The guide told us to walk out into a field where sheep were grazing. He said one of the destinations we paid for was out there, a beautiful river. We walked across the field and eventually came to a trickling stream that was probably just an irrigation ditch. That was when I knew they were ripping us off, but we made the most out of it and took a picture in front of it. We finished our ride and just when I thought my legs and butt were going to fall off we were back.

That night we ate probably the best dinner of the trip. There was singing and they even sang happy birthday to Emma, because the next day was her birthday. After dinner there was a small fire, which wasn’t adequate because it was getting quite cold and there were at least a hundred people there. They also had a dance party where they blasted very random songs, but it was fun. At one point Ariana and I went into the dinner area where they were selling cheap Monglian beer. We bought a couple and started talking to the girl who was selling them. She was one of the girls who had greeted us earlier that day getting off the bus, but she no longer had her traditional dress on. Her name was Yuanna, she grew up speaking Mongolian but started Chinese in elementary school. She was seventeen so her Chinese was better than mine but not by much, she told me she prefers Mongolian. She had also been taking English for a couple years but she didn’t know much because most of her classes are in Mongolian. Since I don’t know any Mongolian, we spoke Chinese. It was really fun, since neither of us were native speakers it was very easy to understand her and she understood me as well. Ariana talked with us as well but she hasn’t had as much Chinese so I had to talk most of the time. It helped my confidence in using the language a lot. At one point a native Chinese speaker came up to buy a beer and he joined our conversation for a while. He talked faster and used some words I didn’t know but I eventually understood him with a little explanation. After talking to Yuanna for about an hour in Chinese she was done working so we asked her if she wanted to meet some of our friends. She agreed and came back to the yurt with us. Zach and Toni joined our conversation as we sat in the yurt. Yuanna goes to high school in Hohhot, which is about an hour from where we were. She lives there usually, but was spending her vacation helping out with the extra tourists that come during the national holiday. She has two siblings, which is uncommon for China, because there are many advantages to having fewer children. She told us that it’s no problem in Inner Mongolia though. Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of China, so that may be part of it, but also I’m guessing China isn’t trying to impose too many rules on Inner Mongolia since there has been talk of them wanting to leave China in the past. After talking for more than two hours with Yuanna we decided to go to bed so we said goodbye.

There is no heat in the yurts and I’m not sure but I would guess by that time the air temperature was around 40 degrees. There were eight of us in the yurt so you would think body heat would help, but I sure couldn’t tell. They didn’t give us very many blankets considering the temperature. A pretty standard comforter was all we got, along with a buckwheat pillow, which is pretty standard in China, but I don’t get it, it's like a sand bag. I woke up a few times during the night because of the cold, and discomfort because we were basically sleeping on a lumpy floor, but I was wearing long underwear and under armor top so it was okay. It was hard to leave the covers in the morning but a warm breakfast was good motivation. They served us rice porridge and warm bread and tea, which was a good way to wake up from a frozen slumber. When it was time to leave I was about to wave goodbye to Yuanna, but when I did, my lucky bracelet broke. Maybe that's a sign that I'll be back someday. It wouldn't be that surprising because it was really fun and beautiful; it was a great break from Beijing city life.

Not much happened after that. We rode the bus to Hohhot and visited a factory which was just a trap to buy expensive things, but we knew better. After lunch we headed for Beijing. We got there at about 9:30 at night and took a taxi back to campus.

It was an awesome break. I’m out, Peace!

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Comments

[Mom]

WOW!
Everything sounds so interesting and so different than the way we live. Your blog is great. A few more captions on your pics would be helpful and entertaining I am sure. Have you met many Chinese students at the University? Have you joined any clubs (other than the ones you party at)?