http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Inner Mongolia en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:10:37 BST Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:10:37 BST New changes are happening everywhere I look within myself my city and my friends. The semester ending has left parts of the city especially those near the university empty and almost unused. Many of the thousands of students have returned home to their local city far from here. Like the students many of the foreign teachers have taken this summer holiday as a chance to travel. I myself just c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-301709.html 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 a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-297779.html I'm now on the train heading back to Beijing from Hohhot. We're taking a hard sleeper car which means that there is a whole car full of bunk beds. There are three layers of beds bottom middle and top. We all have top bunks because that's all that was left when we bought our tickets. Our train left Hohhot at 923 PM and will arrive in Beijing at 7 something in the morning. It's currently about 1 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-283349.html I am currently writing from a yurt in the middle of Inner Mongolia. Well I'm writing in my journal which I will then type into an online blog post upon returning to Beijing. Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region in China and a yurt is a transportable circular tent used by Mongolian nomads. Our yurt is made for six people so Michelle Gabe Angel and I fit in it quite nicely. There are no bed http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-282920.html 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 1428 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 soun http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-277816.html Okay what better to do after getting BBQed then go to the dessert right. Or maybe the desert...Well we have seen a lot on our trip but we haven't seen a desert so it looked appealing. Since our Yurt excursion didn't go as planned we were short on time. Unlike most of out trip we decided to go the quick expensive route instead of the relaxed local route. Our time was cut even shorter than planned http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Baotou/blog-268650.html I wish I could say the BBQ was a good experience.The first night we arrived in Hohhot at 10 pm. Having just missed the shuttle bus to town we tried our luck with the taxi cabs. Up to this point we avoided taxis because the LP book warns you that they they are the biggest ripoff artists out there. Knowing that we cautiously appoached the taxi. As soon as we got near the taxi there were 10 other http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-268646.html At the the beginning of our trip Craig and I had planned on visiting every single province in China excluding those we had already been to during study abroad. Perhaps this wasn't the best goal considering China is an extremely large country and traveling there can be very tiring not to mention hard on the lungs. As you shall see this plan was thrown by the wayside fairly quickly though h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/blog-267776.html 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 degreesThat should be an indication of wha the summer is like around hereNight 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 sout http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-267385.html I am sure a nice place Inner Mongolia I love it culture and history are different other cities in China. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-265303.html On Tuesday April the 8th I woke up to a rainy cloudy day. Nevertheless a day off. Seeing that our school's busiest days are the days that regular Chinese have off we get our free time on Mondays and Wednesdays. And there I was waking up to some Chinese 'talkshow' radio station at 7 in the morning Aaargghh For a good reason though There was a minibus ready and waiting to take us all on a s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Baotou/blog-264728.html Before I left for China everybody asked the question ldquowhy Chinardquo What should have been an easy question to answer was difficult for me. China was a culture and society I knew very little about. My best answer to the question was that I was curious. I wanted to learn more about this huge rising global power see what it was like to live in such a highly populated country experien http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Baotou/blog-264235.html 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 ever http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-257216.html Sharing the same name one ancient and one brandnew I decided to visit both locations in one day with a friend.One's a 7storey octagonal tower built in the Liao dynasty the other's an airport branding the same name and only finished it's first expansion recently.Bai ta also known as 'the white pagoda' is 18 km's east of Hohhot or some 4 km's east of the airport.With a height of 55.6 meters http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Hohhot/blog-252872.html 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 especia http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/blog-245108.html Having finished work and now getting a week off for Chinese new year festivities I'm in a very good mood.Tomorrow 0702 is new year's day so at the moment there is loads of fireworks being fired in the streets.Especially the loud bangs favourably the ones that last a minute or longer seem to be very popular they woke me up at 0930 this morning after a wild and extremely fun night in Hohhot' http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/blog-243382.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/blog-223420.html I know that everyone has been holding their breath for my next entry so here it is Breath easy my friendsHuhhot Inner Mongolia.It was beautiful. Lindsey me Emily Kelsey and Stephanie took a 14 hour train ride through northern China to get there. Train ride was an adventure in itself. We tried to get sleeper cars but they were all out so we ended up on something known as hard seats. A http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/blog-211699.html I just got back last night from Inner Mongolia or Nei Mongol and had a blast. I am also sore all over from the saddle but it was so worth it. Cait and I left our dorms in Beijing at 430 in the morning on the first of October for the beginning of Chinarsquos National Day Holiday in order to catch the bus and drive the supposedly 7 hour drive to Hohhot. It was a rainy start as we stood in the on http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/blog-210273.html Hello I am christening this blog with some photos of the mass chaos that was this weekend. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Erlyan/blog-205086.html We started the day at a ridiculous 5am. Next on the itinerary was Xiangshawan the singing sands gorge a tourist spot in the Gobi Desert. The place is known for its incredibly huge sand dunes with the largest being over 90m. Alas getting to Xiangshawan was a 4.5 hour drive from Huitengxile which is why we had to get up at a ridiculous 5am.Despite the early start and the rather tiring day http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/blog-204628.html Many people don't realize that there are two Mongolias. Good old standard Mongolia is a standalone country north of China and is best known for its famous conqueror Genghis. Then there is Inner Mongolia a province in the far north of China that was claimed a long long time ago for the Chinese empire. Both places are known primarily for grasslands and horses. Not sure why people find grassl http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/blog-204616.html More ApologiesMongolian internet cafes are similar in nature to Sloths they are awfully slow but do eventually get the job done however they are most likely eaten or stuffed before they get there. Because of that it is virtually impossible for me to post photos right now and I probably won't be able to until the 7th of October. In the meantime please enjoy some small text and keep faith that w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/blog-201359.html Ya nos avisaron anoche que a las siete de la manana cerrarian los banos hasta llegar a Erlyan primera ciudad china despues de la frontera con Mongolia. Asi que toca madrugar hacer cola en el tren y esperar un rato. Lo de las fronteras es un atraso eso queda claro cuando estamos parados una hora en Mongolia rellenando formularios y otros documentos. Tememos morir de aburrimiento cuando entra un http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Erlyan/blog-112024.html Me despierto porque una de las hermanas de Golden Globi la ha agarrado fuerte la noche anterior y desfallece en una de las literas de la habitacion. Son las nueve de la manana y al rato me vuelvo a tumbar.Me despierto de forma definitiva a eso de las doce y como es dia de despedida con los companeros de viaje decidimos ir a comer a un restaurante indio que hay en Ulaanbaatar. Ahi Mathieu nos cuent http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Erlyan/blog-112022.html Day 155 2nd NovemberErlian Km 55 markerHad a decent sleep and this morning a hot shower in the pissstinking toilet block of our first Chinese hotel. We went out to change money and have breakfast another delicious and massive meal. The people in the small restaurants seem happy to serve us and are keen to wait on us. And the delicious food is so cheap too. Around midday a taxi driver drove http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Erlyan/blog-100211.html We reisden per dagtrein van Yinchuan naar Baotou onze hardseat kostte 36Y voor dat geld zaten we 8 uur in de treinTaxirsquos hebben een instapprijs van 6Y.De luchthaven ligt erg dicht bij het treinstation 2km maar het verkeer wordt hier omgeleid zodat een taxi van de luchthaven naar het Xihu hotel toch 40Y kostte en er 30min over deed.We logeerden in het Xihu Fandian Westelijk Meer Hote http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Baotou/blog-97361.html Woensdag 27 en donderdag 28 september.Mijn derde vertrek naar China in de afgelopen 2 maand verliep heel vlot. Ik was om 8 uur al op Zaventem om de auto af te leveren en kon daardoor zeer vroeg inchecken. Telefonisch had ik al een aanvraag kunnen doen voor een plaats bij de nooduitgang en dat was gelukt. De twee vluchten eerst naar Helsinki en daarna verder naar Beijing gebeurden met een airbu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/Baotou/blog-97354.html