Inner Mongolia

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After a surprisingly good night sleep we arrive into the ‘small town’ of Hohhot in Inner Mongolia which according to our honcho Apple had a population of 30 million, I don’t think numbers were her strong point. We make our way on public transport to a local breakfast spot where there is a choice fried or steamed dumplings. We felt a little like B grade celebrities here as the restaurant owners took our photo before we left. This was the first of many delicious and very local meals in Hohhot and it turned out eating and having our photos taken were to be the main activities for us that day. After seeing a few of the tourist attractions including a lama temple and the museum we were invited to Apple’s home where we were offer watermelon, milk treats, wifi and she even offered Jana their bed to sleep in after noticing she was dozing off on the couch. We were all very touched by Apple’s hospitality and since we thought she might find it rude for us to tip her we decided that although we none of us were hungry enough for the large banquet meal Apple had recommended for dinner we figured the left overs could be eaten by her family over the next couple days. This was a wise decision as that night’s meal one was one the best of my life and the best of the trips thus far! Tofu, fish, fungi, duck- more than necessary but delicious in every sense.





On our way to dinner we passed through a square where it seemed ‘Hohhot idol’ was taking place. The strange thing was as we all watched the performance on stage everyone from the rows in front of were just staring and taking pictures of us and with us. Their fascination with my blonde hair and western clothes is quite perplexing to me- someone who lives in a multicultural country and has traveled, but these people just haven’t had this kind of contact with any world outside their own. They can’t afford to just jet off and see the world and at the same time foreigners don’t often come to see this nothing town lacking large impressive structures such as the Eiffel tower and the big apple which, although are completely insignificant to any of the lives of the people that near them, people are drawn to because they are ‘iconic’ and ‘must sees’. Places like Hohhot give you a much truer sense of culture the people that live there. Later at the train station we have a conversation with a local through Kat our English/mandarin translator of the group. He offers us all a beer and wants us to know that Chinese people are a lot of fun and very friendly. It was very sweet and entertaining and we all wrote a letter in English for him which he told us he would show to his kids. The man was incredibly genuine and hospitable and gave us his business card should we ever to need to contact anyone in the steel/aluminium industry in China. His parting words have been a favorite quote of the trip, “The world is round so one day you will come back to China”, I am yet to really understand what this means but it is very poetic all the same.

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Photos

One of the Dancers
Part of a group of dancers who performed on stage

Comments

[Jane]

Aww
Aww, the chinese guy sounded very genuine. Doesn't sound like they get too many tourists there. You're lucky to be there.