Khan and Sand

As part of China's National week holiday we took in more of Inner Mongolia's sights. The Genghis Khan (1162-1227) Mausoleum is a bit of a misnomer since he isn't buried there, but hundreds of larger than life statues of soldiers on horseback and cattle pulling yurts is an impressive sight.

Sheep-herding dogs were part of the Mongol campaigns.

A large map relief shows the Mongol Empire which at one time occupied most of Central Asia and China.

Daniel treks across the singing sand dunes, which weren't humming much this time of year since it wasn't the right mix of humidity and temperature.

A camel train of tourists visit the dunes, with a railway tressle in the background. This is also the sight for the future high speed train which will make the Baotou to Beijing trip in a couple of hours compared to the current 12 hour journey.

Mongolian Grasslands

A week-long holiday (National Day) gave us the opportunity to head north and visit the Mongolian grasslands. Blue sky, friends, and a new adventure -- what more could one ask for? We stayed with a family in one of their yurts (Mongolian colors are blue for sky and white for milk). Their horses, cattle, and sheep were friendly visitors too. We learned that "yurt" is a Russian word, the Mongolian word is "ger".

We mounted our horses and were off. We enjoyed the slow walk but the trotting and galloping exceeded our equestrian skills. And what's Mongolian for "Whoa"?

Since temperatures drop at night, we slept in our clothes under heavy blankets. Out on the plains the stars were beautiful, the Milky Way outstanding.

Fuel (dried cow dung) for cooking and heating.

Under the gaze of Genghis Khan, we enjoyed breakfast (millet, fried breads, and salted tea) with fellow travellers Lynnea and Tom, who are Amity teachers in the south of China.

Curbside Cuisine

The food here is marvelous - from the silk worms in the market (haven't tried that yet), to the grocery store chocolate bars with security tags (chocolate is relatively new and pricey), to KFC (yes, the Colonel is here with a fleet of bikes to deliver to your door). Our favorite corn lady always has a distinctive call, making it easy to track her down. Like many folks here, her cell phone is always at the ready.

This butcher had an enthusastic audience (including a dog who is just outside the picture). Inner Mongolia is the land of meat and wheat, rather like our Canadian roots.

Bread pockets are universal - be they pita, quesadillas, dumplings, or baozi - and are good any time of day.

A fall treat is candied apples and grapes.

Just outside the College gates are steam tables set up with grilled meats and vegetables. Make your selection, put it in the bowl provided, and eat up. Students line up for this one.

A day in the park

The mid-Autumn Moon festival here is a three day holiday, so instead of teaching we enjoyed some of Baotou's parks. Musical groups gather to play among the trees. These aren't buskers and onlookers just seem to come and go. We also heard traditional opera, and saw tai chi and sword dancing as well as some serious card and checker games.

In the plaza some older men were doing calligraphy, writing ephemeral poems on the flagstones with water and big pointed brushes.

We also went to a large ecological park, over 10 square miles of grassland within walking distance of our apartment. An artificial hill has a ski slope on one side and this Buddhist shrine on the other.

Among the prayer flags we watched the golden full moon rise above the grassland.

We ended the day in this enormous yurt-like dining room, which also has a stage show of Mongolian culture with dozens of costumned singers and dancers. What a grand wind up to our day in the parks!

End of summer

We buy fruit and vegies from these friendly sellers on our street -- fresh, inexpensive, and convenient.

The lake at nearby Workers' Park is a great place for a Sunday stroll; there's a small zoo, children's rides, and a hilltop pagoda.

Enjoying flowers and sunshine in the park, we were greeted by a group of Chinese Christian evangelicals who insisted we take pictures (it's not 'say cheese' but 'say hallelujah').

Baotou is a wonderful mix of the new and the old.

We're approaching the Mid-Autumn Festival, an important holiday in the Chinese calendar; this display of elaborately packaged moon cakes will be enjoyed by families and friends to celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival

Home sweet home

So far we've said what we're doing but not much about where we live, which is now feeling like home, sweet home. Our home in Baotou is above a row of shops on a busy street -- that's the way we like it, since we're city people. Our front windows are on the 2nd residential floor.

Looking out our front window, across the street is one of the entrance gates of the College where we teach.

Our study has desks for both of us, and for our mascot who guards our library and drying racks.

The bane of our existence here is the bathroom, tiny and with the shower head wired to the bottom of the hot water tank (at least we have a good electric one). There's no shower curtain, the water just runs across the floor to a drain between the sink and the toilet and we have to mop up after.

But the rest of the place is spacious and quite nice. Last Friday was Teacher's Day here and we each got flowers from our students -- we hope they still feel this way when we start giving grades.

Around Town

We treated ourselves to a great pizza with Kelly, a fellow teacher from Oklahoma. The decore was an eclectic mix of vintage Mao posters and pictures of Lady Gaga.

Walking home from church we enjoyed bread baked from a coal-fired clay oven. Food vendors like this are everywhere, selling inexpensive tasty snacks.

The youngest member of the family business.

Going down the road.

Diane made a quick visit to the hospital for a bad case of eczema. The diagnosis and treatment were excellent, although the sign a bit puzzling.

In Baotou

At the annual Amity Teachers Summer Conference in Nanjing we met all the returning teachers before dispersing to our schools on Aug. 26. Upon arriving in Baotou we were treated to a traditional hot pot meal. We're with the College foreign teacher liaison and a fellow teacher who's lived in China for a couple of decades and is our go-to expert.

All signs here are in the two official languages, Mongolian (curly script on the top line) and Chinese.

Daniel standing at the gate to our apartment; if the watermelon truck ever moves we'll be lost. Our flat has two bedrooms, most modern conveniences, and a challenging bathroom.

All students at this 4-year college live on campus, and it seems as though all 10,000 of them ride a bicycle, electric bike, or scooter.

We'll teach English writing and speaking to second-year students. Unlike American colleges where it's easier to be admitted than it is to graduate, China is very competitive so most of these students will be teachers in a few years. We find them very friendly and eager.

Last days in Yangzhou

We survived our two weeks of training in Yangzhou and took in some of the sights. A boat trip down Slender West Lake (it sounds more poetic in Chinese) helped us escape from the hot (95F/35C) and humid weather.

We now know all classical Chinese gardens must contain bamboo, weaping willow trees, rocks, and water.

Daniel is learning to write his Chinese name, which is Yang Danyi. Diane's Chinese name is Li Yaqi.

At the Da Ming Temple, built in the Song Dynasty (1048) we watched people burn incense to their ancestors. Westerners are pretty rare here, and one family took pictures of us with their little girl in front of the 30 ft high statues of Buddha.

Here's our group -- five teachers, eight young German volunteers, and the Chinese student tutors and program faculty. Armed with language lessons, culture classes, and teaching practice sessions, we're ready to go.

First week

Amity was gentle with us the first few days and we did some sightseeing on Sunday afternoon, but everything changed Monday morning (Aug. 9) when we got down to work, with classes and teaching practice sessions. We've now finished our first week, adjusted to the time zone and ready for the weekend. Our first Sunday afternoon we visited the Ge Yuan Gardens, famous for its bamboo and rocks. The shade kept it relatively cool on a very hot day, temperature in the high 90's and humidity like Houston.

Diane and Iris along the bamboo path. Iris has helped us choose a Chinese name - when we're caligraphy pros we'll let you know.

The circular door symbolizes family unity.

Near Ge Garden is Yangzhou's old street, where former houses have been converted to shops. Our tutor Iris grew up in her grandparents' house on this street.

A surprise to us is women gathering to dance in the evening. This group was in the parking lot at the IT Mall -- it does indeed stand for Information Technology Mall, a computer store. The dance is the evening counterpart to tai chi, which is usually done in the morning.