Going to the Dogs

In the Communist era dogs were more likely to be herders, guards, or meals than companions. Now, not only are they more common, but their role has changed. This is as close as we've seen to our favorite dachshund breed, and he was just as fixated on the tennis ball being thrown as ours are. We often see older people taking a walk with their dog, a reflection of dogs' important role as companions as the nest empties.

While we haven't noticed a great variety in breeds, most look like this guy. Since Pekingese date from the 700s when Chinese emperors made them the palace dog, this may account for their appearance.

Since dogs, like people, are numerous here, regulations are coming into place. Beijing limits city dogs to no more than 35 cm (14") in height, and Shanghai is planning a one-dog-only policy. A formal proposal to ban the eating of dogs has been introduced to the National People's Congress.

With dogs have come services for dogs with dog-treat stores, dog social networking, and more vets. Breeds like huskies and poodles are status symbols, and with colder weather now we've even seen dogs wearing little sweaters.

So it's a dog's life here, as this little guy sunning himself would agree. And a real visible testimony to the increasing affluence in China.

Student Life

It costs students and their families a bit less than $2000/yr for tuition, room and board, books and incidentals. Given an average individual income of $3700, sending your child to college can be a real financial stretch. All students live on campus in dorms like this; laundry is hung outside to dry.

Students live 6 to a room, and each one comes with a desk and small locker. The rooms are quite basic, there's no TV to distract, and lights are out at 11 p.m.

Since there's no hot water in the dorms, students head across campus to the boiler room and fill up their brightly colored jugs. There's a small building with showers, where for 75 cents you can have a hot scrub.

Most of the students come from small towns and rural areas several hours by train from here so don't get home very often. There are a lot of sports activities and campus clubs, but your real group is the five other students you share a room with for the 4 years you're a student.

Each floor has a student washroom, with squattie commodes on one side and long sinks on the other. The sinks are also used for laundry.

Here two of our young single faculty colleagues show us their rooms, which are quite like those of the students except they have only 3 to a room. The college is building an on-campus apartment for foreign teachers which should be ready next year.

The Campus

Baotou Teachers' College is part of the Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology. About 10,000 students study to be teachers with majors ranging from physics to physical education; we teach the English majors. It's a modern campus with labs, administration, fine arts buildings, two large cafeterias where we enjoy great food, and many dormatories since all students live on campus. This is the old teaching building where we have our classes; a new building is under construction, as are apartments for all the foreign teachers.

This mural is in front of the library, a large building where students can study and access computers. Diane is with four of our students who gave us a campus tour.

A large gym includes basketball and volleyball courts plus several rooms with ping pong tables. Adjacent to the track field, swimming is available in a nearby hotel pool and tai chi classes are conducted around campus.

The oldest main building on campus, once a library, is now an art building. Most of the buildings were build in the Soviet style, so this one is rather unique.

Visit to Hohhot

Hohhot, capitol city of the province of Inner Mongolia, was the spot for a weekend visit. We boarded the train at the Baotou station for the 2 1/2 hour journey. Train travel is quick, cheap (about $2 for our trip) and very crowded. We've learned that as soon as the gates open there's a great surge and scramble for seats.

We met up with a couple of other Amity teachers to see the sights and compare notes on the joys and challenges of teaching in China.

A visit to the Museum of Inner Mongolia where Daniel pointed out Baotou's spot on a map of mineral resources. Half the global supply of rare earth minerals comes from the Baotou area.

While visiting the Temple of Five Pagodas (1732) we discovered many rooms like this with large statues of Buddha surrounded by burning incense and offerings of food. There's also a rare Mongolian cosmological map carved into stone.

Hohhot is home to a large Muslim community. We arrived at the Grand Mosque as groups of boys were getting ready for school; scaffolds in the background are for the new dome being built. There's a resurgence of religion in China as evidenced by the growth of mosques, temples, and churches.

Halloween Party

Yesterday we brought a bit of western culture to Baotou Teachers' College. The sophomores decorated the room and about 150 of them came out for an evening of games, and of course lots of candy. Daniel looked and acted like a real ghoul while Diane had the perfect witch's broom, not to mention the nose. Everyone wanted to have their picture taken with these apparitions.

Pin the nose on the pumpkin was a popular game (the pumpkins here are rather small and used in the kitchen, so we didn't have any to carve or decorate). Also popular was musical chairs, candy toss, and pass the orange while the movie "Ghostbusters" was on.

Mummy decorating was a hit, and we went through rolls of toilet paper.

Two of our young faculty came out in costume -- Michael Jackson on the left and Marilyn Monroe on the right. And of course it wouldn't be Halloween without bobbing for apples. We had four bobbing stations and a few hundred apples. The students are already asking when we can do it again!

From the Window

Our kitchen window gives us a bird's eye view of daily life on our street. We often say to each other this is one of the best things about the apartment we have. When a power outage strikes, which fortunately isn't very often, repair men shimmy up and make repairs. The equipment includes a small stool, a long pole, and men wearing climbing cleats on their shoes.

Each day the potato man cycles over and sells hot yams from his cart while bicycles and electric bikes whiz by. And Daniel's ever-favorite Smart car was even sighted. All this in the sideroad -- the main lanes are across the curb.

This is the season for dried fruit, including kiwi. On the fresh fruit side the oranges we always associate with Christmas, Mandarins, are in season and have become a daily staple.

A large cadre of street sweepers are employed in China. Given the amount of litter in public spaces, they're kept busy and appear to have guaranteed employment.

The pancake lady makes delicious crepes filled with egg, vegies, and braided bread. Excellent fare for about 65 cents. After the lunch rush street vendors and cleaners sit together on small stools, gossiping about daily events.

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!