See Inner Mongolia in comfort
Print Edition
It was at the Xilamuren grassland that our quiet tour guide, Cindy, seemed to be transformed before our eyes by her Chinese Mongol heritage. On horseback, her back straightened like an arrow, her eyes brightened as she looked over the vast grassland, her tanned face glittered under the clear-blue sky and dazzling sunshine, and her voice commanded her steed in Mongolian.
But Cindy left home long ago to study in the city of Huhhot, capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, where she lives and works in the hospitality industry. She has adopted the lifestyle of the city, like many of China’s ethnic Mongols in the areas around the modern cities of Huhhot and Baotou.
While some adventurous travelers to Inner Mongolia may enjoy spending weeks on fields of grass, living in a yurt — a tent-like structure made from a wooden frame and covered by wool — others may feel a need for a more diverse travel package.
Just like Cindy has turned into a city girl who can easily return to her roots as an occasional tour guide, visitors to Inner Mongolia can enjoy the modern comforts of Huhhot and Baotou and still venture out for a day trip or perhaps an overnight stay to enjoy horse riding and Mongolian customs on the cool grassland, an activity park in the desert, boating and a fish feast on the Yellow River and historical sites like the Genghis Khan Mausoleum.
In the cities, tourist facilities such as accommodations, local travel agencies, transportation and the variety of food are more comfortable for those who are not prepared to rough it in the inner grassland.
The two cities are among the few in the autonomous region to have five-star hotels like Shangri-la that offer a range of travel packages.
Urban areas such as Huhhot and Baotou can be interesting in and of themselves, in that they show how China’s majority Han, Mongols and other ethnic groups came together and how the nomadic and agricultural cultures mingled, like in the scenes author Jiang Rong described in his award-winning novel “Wolf Totem.”
Huhhot, the provincial capital, has a population of about 2.87 million, 87 percent of which are Han Chinese. Its name means “blue city” in Mongolian.
Over hundreds of years, China’s Mongols have been heavily influenced by both Han and Manchurian ethnic groups. The city of Baotou — a mid-sized industrial city with a current population of 1.78 million, 94 percent Han Chinese — was an important frontier city for trade and cultural exchanges and migration between Han and Mongols. Its name means “place with deer” in Mongolian.
Evidence of the city’s connection to other parts of China can be found in Shanxi Province, where many mansions were built by affluent Shanxi merchants during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Many have stories behind them of how the merchants struggled until they struck its rich trading with the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
The families of many Han Chinese who live in Inner Mongolia’s cities also are from Shanxi Province, which was the scene of natural disasters and food shortages during the early Qing Dynasty.
Thousands of poor from the province migrated in a great movement known as the zou xi kou, or going westward. They crossed the Yellow River or the desert, many dying along the way, to reach Inner Mongolia to trade for leather and other products.
Some traders moved back to their birthplaces, but more settled in Baotou. Even today, the local dialect is very similar to that of many Shanxi cities.
A second population shift took place in the 1950s and 1960s, when the Baotou Iron and Steel Group was founded and nearby provinces sent thousands of workers to fill the factories. Other industries in the city created opportunities for many more workers.
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