Inner Mongolia

It was not our plan to do another China tour this year. In China, it is next to impossibility for tourists in group tours to avoid being taken to so-called slaughter houses - these are outlets where tourists have to deal with all kinds of marketing antics. The bottom line is to get the buyers to part with their money.  The thought of this menace could kill off all the urges to sign up for another China tour!

But when the idea of touring Inner Monglia was floated, the urge to attempt another tour to China was rekindled.  This was probably because of the fascination of the exotic and alluring Mongolian grassland. For someone who grew up with the familiar tune "Night on The Prairie", such an opportunity was simply impossible to ignore. We decided to sign up for it.

The tour started with the flight from Singapore to Beijing in China Air at 00:15, not an attractive time on 25 June 2017. It took just over 5.5 hours to fly from Singapore to Beijing and another 2 hours from Beijing to Harbin. After a break for lunch, we boarded the high speed train from Harbin Railway Station to Qigihar. Boarding the train was chaotic. Once the gate was opened, long queues of passengers were just being pushed forward by the surging crowd at the back. By the time we looked around, we could not see any of the group members. We sensed we were lost. We asked around but the railway staff was not helpful. It was fortunate that we met kind strangers who pointed the way for us. It was barely 30 seconds left by the time we made it to the right spot to board the fast approaching train. I dread to think of the consequences if we had missed the train!

One obvious benefit of this trip is learning the geography of north and northwest China. In the past, Inner Mongolia was often mistaken with Mongolia and vice-versa. Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region is part of China. Mongolia, an adjoining piece of land northwest of Inner Mongolia is a separate country. The upper northwest of Inner Mongolia shares a common boundary with Russia.

The highlight of the tour was supposed to be the Mongolian Grassland in Hulunbeir. As it turned out, it was not as authentic as was made out in the promotional material of the tour company. What was shown to us was a tailor-made settlement created just by the highway to cater for tourists and visitors. A few yurts were erected in the compound. The yurt shown to us was in fact used as a small canteen to entertain tourists. It was bare except for a few tables each surrounded with a few stools. There were a number of horses for horse riding by tourists. A go-cart ring was set up to cater for the speed lovers in open field. The set-up was at best a mini adventure park rather than a Mongolian grassland!

Most in the tour group were disappointed and had wanted to see a more authentic Mongolian settlement complete with sheep and horses grazing in the grassland. In the end, we were unsure whether the short change was the game plan of the Malaysian tour company or their Chinese counterpart!

Still, I tried to be positive and to make up the missing parts with a bit of imagination!

Mongolian costume offered to tourists for photo taking. 

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In the end, it was the scenic drive alongside huge expanse and limitless grassland and green hilly and rolling landscape that made up for the not so pleasant experience with the Mongolian Grassland!