Traditional Mongolian costume

by Dong Ning

The Hulun Buir Grassland in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is a favorite destination for summer holidaymakers. It is also fast earning a reputation as a tourist hotspot in the colder months.

Arriving at the HulunBuir Grassland in winter, the first thing you'll feel is...the cold. The entire area, with its expansive grasslands, rolling mountains, rivers, brooks and forests, is covered in ice and snow for seven months of the year.

A traditional ritual at the opening ceremony of the snow festival

The grassland city of Hailar wakes up in a misty fog. First-time visitors are well advised to wrap up every part of the body except their eyes if they want, to keep the freezing temperatures at bay. Rambling through the city, I witnessed a fascinating array of ice carvings on each street. Locals told me that they don't melt until May, or sometimes, even June. Lying so close to Russia, the city has a Russian shopping mall. Wandering around, I discovered it was chock full of interesting trinkets and souvenirs, like Matryoshka dolls. I bought a couple of these cute artifacts for my friends.

In the wintertime, HulunBuir boasts a number of special scenic spots. Yakeshi city at the foot of the Great Hinggan Mountains has fantastic ski slopes. At the juncture of China, Russia and Mongolia is a border town dubbed "Home of Ice and Snow." Here, travelers can enjoy a unique blend of Eastern and Western cultures.

Camels contest at the Nadam

We left Hailar for the two-hour drive to Ewenki, where a Mongoliannovel sports tournament, known as the Nadam was underway, at which local athletes competed for honors in wrestling, horse racing and camel racing. The scene reminded me of Robert Flaherty's documentary, Nanook of the North.

I stumbled upon a Mongolian's yurt, and was amazed at the owner's hospitality. He brought me inside, and fed me a feast of milk tea, cream, cheese and baked rice. Initially, I was laughed at, because I unwittingly sat on the wrong side of the yurt. Something anyone thinking of going on a trip to Mongolia should know is that: men sit on the left hand side and women on the right hand side of a yurt.

Racing in a sleigh

The delights I witnessed are too many to number. Laughed and sang with the locals, made numerous toasts, and learned about their costume, etiquette and customs, "Offering the white hada is a particularly disarming ritual". The white hada is a long piece of silk given to friends and guests to express good wishes.

Local girls, dressed in traditional costume, draped hada over their open palms as they sang their special songs of welcome. I felt I had truly experienced nomadic life, as I rode over the white and silver grasslands on horseback, and chomped hungrily away on chunks of roasted mutton. My city life never seemed more mundane.

(Source: chinatoday.com.cn)