INNER MONGOLIA 2005
Prologue: In late June, 2005 I traveled to Heilongjiang Province in Northern China and to Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region--IMAR. This was my eleventh trip to China since 1993. (93, 98, 99, 00, 01, 02 [3X], 03, 04 and 2005.) I have been there as a potato production agronomist.

On the evening of June 29, I took the night train from Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China to Hulan Beir City in Hailar District of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Not to be confused with the independent country of Mongolia to the North.) I stayed until the evening of Saturday, July 2, 2005 when I flew back to Beijing and on home.

Here are a few random images from the trip. Most images have captions. All were taken in and around Hulan Beir. 

Please note that IMAR is a huge territory stretching some 2,000 km (+/-) from northeast to southwest, nestled in between Mongolia and China. These shots are froma small area in the far NE. IMAR has more independence that other provinces of China. IMAR claims some Mongol traditions (the grassland/animal culture complete with yurts--the round tents), yet it is truly Chinese in written and spoken language and money. (Mongolia--the republic to the North--on the other hand, is a free-standing country with its own Mongolian language and currency. They use Russian Cyrillic written script.)

Email me if you have questions or comments.

Cheers!

Clive Schaupmeyer

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There is no air service from Harbin (Heilongjiang Province) to Hailar, IMAR. The two options are to drive the 750 km or take the night train that takes 11 hours. The car below is the "hard bed" sleeper car that holds perhaps 60 passengers.  There are six bunks per 'berth." It was a most enjoyable trip this year--I slept this trip, unlike last year.  (When I left Hailar, I fly directly to Beijing for the return home.)
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A neat old man

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We traveled to a forest park about 130 km south of Hailar. There are vast grasslands in IMAR where cattle and sheep graze. Some is in good condition and some is overgrazed.
I was asked about these flowers below. We saw these lilies growing wild on the prairie and we ordered a dish of them for lunch. There were served with mushrooms and slivered chicken. I've eaten lily flowers before and they are tasty. The next day we saw lily buds and flowers for sale in a Hailar market. The vendor assured us they were picked in the wild--which may not be that ecologically sound.
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