Vacation Time This week was the Chinese National holiday and MidAutumn Festival, so we got an 8 day break. For 5 of those days I went up to Inner Mongolia which is the first semiautonomous region in China and right next to Mongolia the country. I had a guide who is from Inner Mongolia and ethnically half Han half inner Mongolian. She was incredible and shared so much about her pride in Inner Mongolia, the history and culture of the region, and her thoughts on all the different places we went.
Hohhot
The first day, I solo explored Hohhot, the capital city in Inner Mongolia, and on day 3 my guide Aki and I went to the larger sites of the Dazhao Temple and the Inner Mongolia Museum. Hohhot is a fascinating blend of cultures, with some of the largest temples dedicated to Tibetan Buddhism being next to a gorgeous Mosque and an old Catholic Church. It serves as the main barrier between the desert and Beijing, and it is located between the mountains and the yellow river. As such, it holds important historical significance to the foundations of Tibetan Buddhism in the region and the history of Ghengis Khan and other large figures in the history of the Mongols. In the museum I also learned about the significance of Inner Mongolia to different modern wars like the SinoJapanese war. (The museum had very politically aligned descriptions of events.) Dazhao temple was incredible, and Aki did an awesome job describing what she terms "Inner Mongolian Tibetan Buddhism" and the unique facets of that religion to the area.
The Grasslands
My day in the grasslands was awesome! I spent the night in a yurt, rode Inner Mongolian horses, took a small train through the area, saw the golden tree forests, and got to have traditional lamb dumplings. The horseback riding was my favorite part, because Aki couldn't go with me so it was just an Inner Mongolian guide and I. He and I chatted in Mandarin and he was impressed by my horse back riding skills so we got to go faster than normal. (When we came back in Aki was surprised because she'd never seen anyone doing more than a walk.) I also got to enjoy the area for a while just in peace and quiet on a horse just like people would've for centuries. Then, was I hiked and drove through the area I got a feel for how windy and expansive the space was. The area I was in was very clearly for tourists, and Aki talked a lot about the delicate balance of protecting the nature while also allowing for entrepreneurship that Inner Mongolia currently is struggling with. The area is not very fertile for anything other than potatoes, but it serves as an important ecological zone nonetheless. It is also full of energy creating wind turbines, and now tourism. Aki was very proud of this and when we met an old man who kept being rude about the area because it's "economically undeveloped" I felt bad. Aki said that's pretty normal in a lot of tourists, which sucks because the area is beautiful, Hohhot is lovely, and I honestly wouldn't want the grasslands to be more developed for both climate and aesthetic reasons.
The Desert
Maybe my favorite part of the trip was the time I spent in the desert. I haven't spent that much time in a sand based desert ever and it was so cool. We rode camels and ATVs and went sand sliding. I should've bought some of these shoe covers that keep sand out, but live and learn. Here, Aki told me about efforts to regress the desert that the government has been undergoing, which meant that in some directions you could see small trees and bushes. I had learned about efforts like this in the Sahel and other desert areas, and it was cool to see that in action. There is something about looking out and just seeing miles of sand dunes that made me feel very calm, id don't know why but it was truly just lovely.
The Life of a Showgirl Since my trip in Inner Mongolia did come directly during a Taylor Swift release, I did have to listen of course. I don't think you can get farther than a yurt in Inner Mongolia from the Life of a Showgirl, but alas I made do and I love the album. I am very excited to get back to school and chat with my students and fellow teachers about the album because everyone I've met is also a Taylor Swift lover. Also, being away meant I didn't see all the discourse on the album and really just got to enjoy it and hear what friend's thought which is rare for a Taylor album.