A piece of Mongolia in China
The 2025 edition of the American Independence Day holiday fell on a Friday this year, meaning there was a three-day weekend. Unlike last year, the Embassy's annual Fourth of July event this time wasn't held on the actual holiday (it took place the day before, on an extremely hot and humid evening that left me soaked in sweat), giving us a last chance to travel before we leave Beijing 北京 at the end of this month. Shu-E wanted to see the grasslands of Inner Mongolia 内膜凝固古自治区, and so on Friday we drove more than 7 hours (including stops) to reach our destination.
Beijing was terribly smoggy as we departed that morning, but the scenery gradually improved the further away we got from the metropolis. At one point we drove past a section of the Great Wall 万里长城:
A cat chilling at one of the rest areas where we stopped for a bio break:
The expressway rest areas where we pulled into appeared to be works in progress. There were no sit-down restaurants, only small supermarkets and food stalls like this one where we had lunch:
After several hours in the car we finally exited the expressway for the equally long drive to the grasslands. The sign encouraged us to roll up our sleeves and work hard, and to move forward regardless of wind or rain:
The scenery while en route to me at least was somewhat reminiscent of South Dakota, and not usually what you think of when it comes to China:
We finally reached our lodgings in the later afternoon - the
James Joyce Coffetel in
Hexigten 克什克腾旗. The company is a mid-priced Chinese chain that claims to combine coffee culture with hotels, adopting a theme based around the famed Irish author. The hotel channel on the TV featured an actor who resembled Adrien Brody (if the star of
The Pianist and
The Brutalist had been born in China) encountering people dancing to 1920s-style music while exploring the hotel:
Instead of a Gideon Bible (or a Buddhist text, as I've encountered before in some hotels in Taiwan) there was a Mandarin translation of Ulysses in our hotel room. Unfortunately, the hotel did not continue with the Irish theme by offering an Irish breakfast in the morning - the breakfast buffet instead had the usual Chinese fare, along with some eggs and toast for more Westernized palates:
After checking in and dropping off our things, we entered the
Hexigten Global Geopark 克什克腾世界地质公园, buying an admission ticket good for three days, and drove out to the Yingshiwaijingjidi 影视外景基地, an area used for movie and TV location shots. Along the way we would see the first of the countless opportunities to go horse riding during our stay:
Behold the grasslands of Inner Mongolia! The scenery was beautiful, evoking images of the American west:
The wife came prepared with her selfie stick to capture the moments:
There were several shops offering visitors the opportunity to dress up in traditional Mongol attire, an indication that in China there is no such thing as cultural appropriation. Mongols, in fact, now comprise only around 15% of Inner Mongolia's population of 24.7 million, with Han Chinese making up 84% of the populace:
Going out for dinner that evening, and an indication of what kind of fare would be on offer:
The restaurant street closest to our hotel and one of several within walking distance. Almost all the restaurants offered the same grilled meat dishes (and Mongolian cuisine is heavy on animal fats, dairy and meat). In China it's often the case that when a travel destination becomes popular on social media, there will be a rush of new restaurants opening up in the area, and all offering the same dishes. My impression was that was the case here as well:
An example of a clever marketing ploy: using fans to project the aroma of grilled meat at passersby:
Tired after a long day's drive (the wife and I did split the driving time roughly equally). The beer unfortunately was not strong enough to meet my needs:
I was really looking forward to the dish on the right. My daughter described it as "fried milk", and the filling was similar to custard, a favorite of mine since childhood. But the exterior was coated in coconut, meaning I couldn't finish it. Coconut is a taste I've never acquired, putting it right up there with beets, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and liver as a food that I can't (and won't) eat:
Of course we had lamb skewered on sticks. The word in Mandarin is 串, pronounced as
chuàr in the northern Chinese accent. Amber, being a proud Taiwanese, prefers to say it as the softer-sounding
chuàn:
Not pictured below: the endless setting off of fireworks lasting until late in the evening. Fireworks are banned throughout Beijing, but in China's wild west things are obviously different.
The emperor is far away:
Note the Mongolian script on the signs:
The first place where my wife wanted to stop on Saturday morning was apparently the site of a famous battle (possibly
this one?), but the only things we could see were animal rides and arcade games, so we quickly got back in the car:
Gongzhuhu 公主湖 and Princess Lake, the latter according to legend created by tears from a Chinese princess being married off to a local warlord, though a sign onsite said she later was heartened by the generosity shown to her by the "grassland people". Except the "l" was almost worn away so I initially read it as "grass and people" until my daughter pointed out what had happened:
Two Dry Brothers 干哥俩, purveyors of beef jerky. Their signs were everywhere in the grasslands, along with several shops in town. The jerky actually lived up to the hype:
This vendor's lamb skewers were generous slabs of meat much larger than what we had for dinner the previous evening:
Of course we had to go horse riding, at least according to Shu-E. This was the first time in years for me to get on an equine, though I remember as a young lad in England riding my cousin Yvonne's pony. My wife was jealous because I was allowed to ride by myself without having the guide holding on to the reins, as was the case with the girls' horses. I was probably given the tamest horse:
While Amber and Shu-E went off to gallop at high speed across the grass I was content to let my steed graze. I spoke reassuring words to him/her/it throughout our time together as I did not relish the idea of being thrown off:
Back on the road and stopping to admire the scenery:
This pond by the road was more reminiscent of the southern U.S. than of north-central China:
Stopping for lunch near the aforementioned pond. This soda I had with my meal was similar to
Calpis カルピス and
Skál スコール but had a more yogurty taste (if that's even a word):
At just 2.5% ABV this beer was weak enough that Shu-E could probably have continued driving but I took over after lunch just to be safe:
Following lunch we continued to the
Huamugou Scenic Area 桦木沟景区. Entrance here required a separate charge to the one we paid the day before to get into the grasslands area but my normally cost-conscious spouse was willing to fork over the cash in order to see a show (which also required a separate ticket).
The performance wasn't slated to start until 16:00 so we had time to drive around and see a bit of the area. Despite it's name Shu-E and I both agreed Golden Toad Lake 金蟾湖 more resembled a snake:
The horse-riding show was an hour-long demonstration of Mongol horse-riding techniques, though the cynic in me suspects that the majority of the performers were probably of the Han persuasion:
The propaganda was thick, based around a "Mongol" grandfather relating a story to his granddaughter - note the Mao Zedong 毛泽东 portrait inside the "yurt". People's Liberation Army soldiers team up with local Mongols to defeat bandits who had been terrorizing villages, then work together to build a New China:
The battle scene was exciting, with loud explosions and horses trained to fall in battle (though a couple wanted to get up immediately afterwards, requiring their "dead" riders to hold them down until the scene was over):
Following the defeat of the bandits there was a break in the propaganda to allow for demonstrations of some very impressive equestrian skills:
Then it was back to the narrative to close out the proceedings:
A description of the performance we had just seen:
As stated above one could not be sure how many of riders were actually ethnically Mongolian. The 54
officially recognized ethnic groups (not including the Gaoshan 高山族, an umbrella term for all 16 aboriginal tribes officially recognized by the Republic Of China government in Taiwan) make up a total of roughly 8% of the People's Republic of China's population, with the majority Han comprising the rest.
In China there is no discussion of minority group issues. Instead, minority representatives in the National People's Congress are encouraged to wear ethnic dress during opening sessions (Han representatives tend to don Western-style business attire); while Chinese tourists expect to see ethnic minorities wearing colorful ethnic clothing and performing in song-and-dance shows when traveling within the country.
On the way back into town following the show we were blocked by cattle crossing the road for the second time that day:
A sign in our hotel asking guests not to mistake the "Chinese Greedy Ground Beetle" (or the "Grassland Black Bull", depending on the translations app) for a cockroach and to not hurt it because it eats red spiders and other beetles:
Sunday. The town was crowded as we left even though it was only 09:00. We headed in the opposite direction instead of going back the same way we took on Friday as my wife wanted to drive the
First Scenic Boulevard, popularly known as
China's "Route 66". 180 kilometers/112 miles in length, we did about 60 kilometers/37 miles, or one-third of the route, before our GPS had us go in a different direction in order to send us back to Beijing. The route was scenic as was we made our way through Hebei Province 河北省 but looked very similar to that of American west. We only stopped for lunch and bathroom breaks but Shu-E did take some photos from the passenger seat as I drove:
Toilets along the route were nasty, such as this men's room at a gas station. At least the view across the road was nice:
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant on the outskirts of Fengning 丰宁. Needing a restroom, Amber and I were directed to use a gas station bathroom down the road. According to my daughter, the women's room there was worse than the one described above. If China wants to be taken seriously as a great power it needs to do something about the state of its public toilets outside of the major cities (and many within them, as well):
Speaking of water closets, as we entered Beijing we stopped at an expressway rest area. The toilets there were much better, of course. Outside, a computer screen indicated how many stalls were occupied. It also listed the current PM2 pollution levels in both restrooms - when I took the photo the women's was more polluted. Maybe some woman had just eaten the Chinese equivalent of Taco Bell? The stats also included the total number of users that day. Compare this with the photo of the loo above and the disparity between urban and rural China becomes very clear:
It took close to 8 hours of almost non-stop driving but we finally made it home just after 17:00.
My wife was happy with the grasslands. Amber had already
been to Inner Mongolia on a school trip with her senior class. And what about me?
In summary the grasslands are beautiful but at risk of becoming overly-commercialized, with too many riding businesses, food stalls, souvenir stands, arcade games and the like. Many visitors rent 4WD vehicles to go offroad driving, but because they lack experience behind the wheel of such large vehicles they can't always stay in their lanes, especially when rounding corners. Many drivers were also impatient, with lots of dangerous high speed passing of other vehicles. Other motorists inconsiderately parked their vehicles by the side of the road where there were few or no shoulders, forcing others to drive around them and clogging already narrow roads. And there were too many restaurants serving the same dishes, with little to differentiate one from another. I wonder if there's a bubble that may soon burst, as it has in many other formerly trendy domestic hotspots.
Shu-E and I will be moving to Guangzhou 广州 in September, which means there will be opportunities to visit new places in southern China. I don't expect things on the ground there to be much different from what they're like here, though.
Blogging-wise it'll be back to Japan. Stay tuned for Day 8 of my trip to Shikoku 四国.
