Blogs from Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China, Asia

#1: Meiligeng Meiligeng (link) is a natural park located in the Yinshan mountain range (a.k.a. Daqingshan mountains) some 30 km's west of Baotou. To get there we took a small (and slow) bus from the 公共汽车站 in Kunqu which took us across the Kundulun river right into the industrial heart of Baotou. Mainly subsidiaries belonging to the Baogang group http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baotou_Steel and other factories line the coal-blackened streets with their chimneys belching various-coloured fumes. A grim place if you ask me, and I didn't bother to take pictures from the bus window. The bus dropped us off just under an hour later on the highway where a car and driver waited for us, warned by the busticket puncher. With the 5 of us, it was a bit cramp but since the drive into the mountains was only ... read more

''Johan Lao shi, you are ugly!'' Something I had to hear often during my two years and three months teaching English in the north of China. This phrase was very popular with my young students, kids aged 6 to 10. It didn't bother me the slightest though, in fact, I liked it! Grammatically correct, and it proved they had remembered at least one of the adjectives I had taught them. The fact that the unit which included this particular adjective was about pet animals and not about people proved they were able to use the learned vocabulary in a broader spectrum of language than I had taught them. Other adjectives or nouns popular with the kids to describe me were 'fat', 'monster', 'gorilla' and the less frequent 'Johan is a girl!'. Teaching in China really is ... read more

Remember the news reports on rare earth exports from China at the end of 2010? Most of this rare earth is from the city of Baotou, Inner Mongolia province. (or in fact, from the huge Bayan Obo mine north of the city. Famed for its natural resources and minerals, the city of Baotou was built by the Russians first, later by the Chinese. It is one of China's great industrial cities, mainly thanks to iron ore and coal. To the south lies Ordos, the 6th richest city in China. The people from this small city have suddenly turned rich, sold out by the government for the land rich with coal. Another big income is the Kashmir trade. Baotou is divided in 3 large districts and a few smaller ones. From west to east lies; Kunqu, with ... read more

Summer!! Finally!! Aahh, and how nice it is after the long, cold winters here in inner Mongolia. The trees flower and turn green within an instance (well, 2 weeks, really), people gather outside, small barbecue restaurants put tables and chairs outside and the main walking street here in Kunqu, Buxing Lu, is turned into a night market. Fantastic! Funny story about all of these small barbecue places though; apparently most or even all of them don't have permission of the government to put chairs and tables outside. Therefore, periodically, the police will go around the city, drive up with their trucks, empty barbecues and throw them on the back of their trucks. A bit later, with the police out of sight, the owners miraculously take a replacement from somewhere and the party goes on...! Heard from ... read more

''No vegetables available'' This street seller selling toilet paper (!) on the street which I live on, has one of those pre-recorded megaphones blearing often incomprehensible lines in order to get passers-by to pay attention to their goods. This particular time though, I couldn't help but hearing the words 'no vegetables available' which just made me laugh so much,seeing what he's selling really is toilet paper... Right.... well, after almost two weeks back home I booked another flight via Dubai this time and flew across Pakistan and the Karakoram mountain range into Qinjiang province, flying exactly south of Baotou and Hohhot while getting ready for descent into Beijing Capital airport. Oh, how I love flying. Was able to get some great views of the snowy mountain ranges separating China from it's middle eastern / central ... read more