My Trip to China, Mongolia and Russia 2000 By Mike Bailey

As the jet descended lower and lower I could see the houses where the Chinese people lived below. Some of the buildings looked to be made out of stone. Many had walls around their backyards. The jet landed. We had made it.

Entering Beijing Airport



We were taxied to the terminal and after a little wait we filed out of the plane. I had no idea what to expect. I hadn't done any international traveling since 1970 When I came back from Vietnam after my tour of duty was finished. Down the hall there was a line of people holding up cards with people's names on them. I didn't see any with my name on any of them. An announcement came over the innercom in English stating that our luggage could be found at carousel number one. Surprisingly I was feeling cool and calm under the circumstances. I was thousands of miles from my home in a country different then my own. It was a communist country. I didn't speak the language.

I followed the crowd into a room and was handed a little card to be filled out. It had all the usual information they wanted; the same information that is on your passport, where you were from and other things. It was a very short form. After that I gave it to someone who was standing at the entrance of a very large room. Here we had to get in line and give a person seated behind a counter a piece of rice paper we filled out while we were in the plane. When my turn came I stepped up to the desk where the custom worker was and handed him the piece of paper. He took my passport and then wrote something on a piece of paper then handed it back to me. I asked him where carousel one was. He looked at me with a puzzled expression and said something in Chinese. I smiled and said thank you and left.

I went down some stairs and saw that there were carousels so I found carousel one and after a little wait found my suitcase. I grabbed it, pulled the handle up and started rolling it toward a door in the middle of the building that led outside where other people were leaving.

The air was sultry but not too warm. I could tell that it had been raining recently. Outside the door there was a crowd of people. Again there were people holding up signs with people's name on them, some in Chinese and some in English and other languages. There were also taxi drivers soliciting for customers. Someone held up a little yellow card that had the word, MIR written on it. That was the name of the travel company I booked this trip through. I made eye contact with the person holding the card and lifted my index finger. "Are you Michael Bailey"? The American with dark hair asked. I said I was. He lifted the ribbon that separated the crowd from the people coming out the door and pulled me through and guided me to the back of the crowd. He introduced himself as Paul Schwartz, the tour manager. Then he introduced me to Yang who would be our guide while we were in Beijing. Paul mentioned that I had been the first one of the group he had found so far. He left me with Yang so he could find the others. While standing and waiting Yang told me twice that if I wanted to smoke I had to go outside. I told him twice that I didn't smoke.

Yang was a native of Beijing and knew the city well. In a few minutes Paul came back with two other member of our group; Fran and Arlene. We were taken to the van where we put our luggage and then got in. Other members of the group started to arrive. Sabine who was a world traveler and then a middle aged man with his eighteen year old son. We were ready to go. Yang said that it would take about an hour to get to our hotel since it was in the heart of Beijing. I was actually happy to hear that since it would give us time to see the city a little. On the way it was like watching a documentary of China like I had seen many times over the years, but this one was live. I was seeing it in the moment.

We were in rush hour traffic so the driver spent his time maneuvering through traffic trying to get us to the Peace Hotel. At times the traffic was stop and go.

Traffic



Everything in Beijing is big. The buildings are huge. The major thoroughfares are about six lanes in each direction. While we were driving along Yang was trying to explain to us that Beijing is constantly changing. If we would come back in three years we would not recognize it. That seems to be true of my city too, I thought.

We finally got to the hotel and checked in. We didn't do much that first day since the tour was to begin the next day.

The next morning I got up and went downstairs to the resturant and had breakfast. They had a variety of everything both American and Chinese. After breakfast we had a little time, so my roommate, Sabine and I walked around the block to see if we could find any hutongs.

Hutong



These are little old fashioned alley ways that represent the real China that are rapidly disappearing as Beijing modernizes. We found one not far from the hotel. As we were walking around in the early morning people were on their way to work either walking, riding bicycles or driving cars.

The Forbidden City

The van was waiting by the time we got back to the hotel. The ride to the Forbidden City was only a few minutes. We parked and got out. As we walked along the outer wall toward the entrance we were occosted by hawkers. These people were very pushy and threw themselves on you. They didn't really have to go through all this, I was going to buy their postcards anyway. They were very cheap. Only a few Yuan.

The formal main entrance starts at Tianaman Square where the large picture of Mao is, but we entered from a side door where the Meridian Gate is. The first thing I noticed was that all the doors were red with brass studs in them. The Forbidden City was built between 1406 and 1420. It was burnt down, rebuilt, sacked and then renovated many times in its long history. The city is constantly under reconstruction since the buildings are old and need constant repair. It was the seat of power for five hundred years,

The gate was massive. It is a forty foot, three sided quadrangle court. The walls are red

Meridian Gate and



decorated with artifacts. The roof is yellow glazed tiles. There are three tunnels which are the entrances with walls that are thirty five feet thick. We went through one of the long, dark tunnels. On the other side there was a massive courtyard.

Court of Golden River



I felt like I was walking into a history textbook. This courtyard was called the Court of the Golden River. It's four sides were inclosed by high red walls, colonnaded porches and low buildings. Before us were five white bridges over a moat. The middle bridge is the one the emperor used when he passed by there. The moat is supposedly a river of golden water. As we walked further we came to the Gate of Supreme Harmony. Once we got there we saw some of the art objects that are desplayed there. Then we came upon two great stone lions that guard the gate. It was explained that the male lion on the right has his right paw on a ball. The female lion on the left side of the door has her right paw on a baby lion.
Going through this gate we could see in the distance the Great Hall of Supreme Harmony. This is the place where the emperor had his throne and ruled the country.


Great Hall of Supreme Harmony

The walk over was about the length of two football fields. When we got there I noticed quite a few ornaments on display on the top terrace. There were things like; bronze incense burners and other objects. We could not go in the building since the doors were locked but we were able to look in the windows.

Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony



The emperor's throne was surrounded by art treasures that are symbolic of nature. It stands on a hardwood platform that is highly polished about two meters tall and is enclosed within six thick, gold lacquered pillars. The base of the throne and the throne itself were carved out of sandalwood. The floor was paved with golden bricks which were baked in an oven for one hundred and thirty six days and then immersed in tung oil and polished to a shiny, permanent gloss.

Around the throne stood two bronze cranes, an elephant-shaped incense burner and tripods in the shape of mystical beasts. On the ceiling there were two glass carved dragons painted with mercury playing with large pearls.

After this we walked around the Great Hall of Supreme Harmony to the smaller Hall of Central Harmony. As we walked the guide pointed out the Garden of the Palace of Benevolent Tranquility to the left. It looked magnificent from a distance.

We skipped the dozen or more other government buildings and went down a long cobblestone passageway lined with huge earthenware vats that held water incase there was a fire in one of the palaces, which was a common occurance in the olden days. At the end of the passageway we arrived at the Gate of Heavenly Purity that led into the inner court. This is the place where the Emperor lived with his wife, children and concubines.

Inside the Emperor's quarters we were able to look in the windows at the highly styled rooms furnished with very fashionable Ming and Qing Dynasty chairs and furniture with silk on the walls and curtains. Not far from this place was where the concubines lived. These were very small quarters.

After this we made our way down to the Gate of Terrestrial Tranquility, which is the entrance to the Imperial Gardens which is at the north end of the city. The garden was built during the Ming Dynasty and covers an area of over twelve thousand square meters. The Hall of Imperial Peace stands in the center of the garden surrounded by a rectangular wall that was built in the fifteenth century.

Two gilded unicorns stand at the entrance. They are supposed to protect the wall from evil spirits. The wall stands among trees, rockeries, flowerbeds, pavilions, terraces and bronze incense burners.

We walked along the decorated walkway through the garden and admired the artistry of the architecture and the layout of the grounds. There were several pagotas which were named for the seasons, such as; the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Springs which stands on the east side of the garden. It was built in 1535 and represents spring. Naturally the other pagotas symbolize summer, fall and winter respectively.

Pavillion of Eternal Spring



Everywhere you looked there were odd shaped rocks strewn around. There is on place called Gathering Beautiful Hill which is an artificial mountain with a cave. It is located on the northeast end of the garden. There are a few fountains around it.

Artificial Mountain



The Pavilion of Imperial View is on top of the artificial mountain. The royal family of the Qing Dynasty used to climb to this spot and enjoy the view of the festivals taking place below.

After looking around in the garden for awhile we went out the back door of the Forbidden City. Looking up to Prospect Hill which is across the way from the Forbidden City, we could see the pagota where the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty hanged himself. After that the bus came to take us back to the hotel.

The Great Wall of China

After the Forbidden City we were taken to the Friendship Store. This is a department store owned and run by the Chinese government. The place was quite big and there was a good selection of Chinese goods for sale. After that we went to a resturant that occupied the back of the building. We went in and sat down. All meals in China for foreigners are the same. The table you sit at is round. There is a lazy susan in the middle. The waitresses come and put many different dishes on the lazy susan. You turn it to get what you want to eat using chopsticks. The plate in front of you is about the size of a saucer so you fill it more then once. You keep eating and turning the lazy susan and putting more on your plate. The girls bring more dishes of food out until you are finished eating. We were unable to eat all the food they brought out.

After this we were off to the Great Wall of China. We got to the freeway and started heading north. It looked like any freeway I had seen in the United States except for the signs written in Chinese reminded me where I was. After about thirty minutes we got off the freeway and headed into a mountainous region in an eastern direction up a winding road. Occasionally we passed a village. We passed a place that made tile roofing where stacks of it were positioned in front of a store by the side of the road. Here people lived a more traditional life. I could see where generation after generations had worked the land laid the foundation on their property and the present generation was still carrying out the plans.

The place where we were going was called Mutianyu Great Wall. It is supposed to be one of the best kept parts of the Great Wall of China. It was built by the Qi and the Ming Dynasties and it has been rebuilt and restored down through the centuries. It has a 1,400 year history and many battles between the Chinese and the Mongols had been fought there.

When we got to the site the driver parked the bus and we got out and proceeded up a gradual incline passing a couple resturants and a few stalls where people were selling memorabilia and other souvenirs.

We took a chair lift to the wall which only took a few minutes but saved alot of walking. When we were let off there was a stone staircase we had to go up to get on the wall. Fortunately it was a pretty clear day except for a few rain clouds in the distance. The view was real good. The wall runs up and down the steep mountains which could be seen for miles.

After awhile it started to rain so we all took cover in one of the guard towers up a steep flight of slippery stairs. Inside there was a girl behind a table selling some stuff. Once we were all inside she started making a big fuss about us buying her stuff. The Chinese as a nation had been closed

Great Wall



off from the rest of the world so long that it seemed they didn't know how to act around foreigners. If she would have calmed down and stop begging maybe more people would have bought her stuff. I'm sure by now the Chinese people have stopped doing this when they try to sell their stuff to what they consider rich Americans. This was back in 2000 when China had only been an open country for a few years.

After this we went back to our hotel where we had to get ready for our journey to Mongolia that would start after breakfast the next day.

Train Through North China and Inner Mongolia

The next morning we got up early and went to the train station in downtown Beijing. Once there we were shuffled into a room where foreigners and Chinese minorities had to wait for their train. The main lobby of the terminal is reserved for Han Chinese. We were waiting for the Trans-Mongolian train which would take us to the capital of Mongolia. Mongolia is the country north of China about the size of Spain, France and Germany put together with a population of about 2.1 million people, but with twice as many cows, sheep, yaks and horses.

Beijing Train Station



We pulled out of the station at around 7am. All Chinese trains are painted dark green. Inside there was wood paneling on the outer walls and the carpet was dark blue. In the cars that had seats there were three rows of seats on one side and two on the other. We were assigned to a car that had cabins. There were nine cabins per car to sleep in once it got dark. The second class car had four bunks per cabin which is the way we were traveling.

A surreal feeling fell over me as we passed the landscape outside the train window. There were makeshift crowded houses that were squashed together. Each had a garden in the back. People were milling around or going to and fro in the streets and pathways. It wasn't long before we got to the outskirst of the city and started to come upon more rural areas. At one point we went passed one part of the great wall. Here most of the dwelling places are tiny, dirty, crumbling red brick houses with tile roofs. I could see that the roads were bad and needed a little TLC.

We were headed north through steep, winding hills, plunging valleys and then finally open plains. We even went through a fairly long tunnel. Was I really in China? I thought to myself. I pinched myself to see if I was going to wake up from a dream.

Engine



We would be arriving in Mongolia early the next morning I was told.

At 12 noon we had our first meal. We went down to the dining car which was a few cars away. Once there we had to wait in line and then eat in shifts. Once it was our turn to eat we were seated and a girl came and put the food in front of us. She gave us chopsticks. For drinks you got a choice of soft drinks or water. I had a coke with Chinese characters written on the can that had the old fashion pull tab that we used to use back in the 70's. The meal was some sort of beef chunks mixed with chunks of fat and some kind of spice I couldn't identify. Shredded, boiled cabbage was on the side and also a little bowl of rice. The rice was overcooked and tasted terrible.

We were passing all kinds of landscapes. There were mountain ranges in the distance. Most of the terrain was cultivated fields planted with corn and vast farm lands. There were also some other types of plants, possibly soybean and cabbage. Inbetween the farm lands there were villages. Each house had about two or three chimneys. Sometimes there was Chinese writing on some of the building close to the railroad tracks. It was possibly put there to identify the name of the town. I asked someone what kind of stoves these people use. I was told that they have open fires in their houses. I'm sure someone in one of those houses was steaming wheatcakes with red bean filling over a coal fire. I heard that this is one of the things these people eat in this region of China.

Country Side



The train rumbled down the tracks. Once in awhile we passed a factory with blue smoke pouring from it's smokestack. I also notice quite a few monsterous earth moving machinery. There were several graveyards along the way. Some were just mounds of dirt with a headstone at one end. In other areas there were just mounds of dirt with no headstone. I saw quite a few portable beehives set along side fields. When the bees finished collecting the pollen from plants in one field they are taken to another field.

Chinese House



For dinner we filed into the dining car again. This time it was chicken, rice and cabbage with the leftover beef from lunch dumped in. It was actually terrible.

The train only made one stop. It was at a station where people had push carts selling things to eat and souvenirs. I took the opportunity to get out and stretch my legs a bit. I bought some kind of snack that was kind of like popped corn that had a strange smell to it.

Inner Mongolia

We had been passing through big sky country for about three hours. We were in what is called Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. It is still controlled by China. All there was for miles and miles was grasslands. Occasionally we would pass a traditional Mongolian tent. The poles to these tents are made of birch branches formed into a lattice framework and held together by horse hair rope. In the center of the ceiling is a hole where the chimney pipe sticks out and is connected to a stove in the center of the tent. The outside of the tent is covered with white felt that is made by the Mongolian people and is tied into place with leather or horse hair rope. The herdmen in this country still follow the lifestyle that has remained unchanged from the time of Chinggis Kahn.

A Ger



We could still see an occasional Chinese house but they were not so close to the railroad tracks anymore. They are usually in large fields in the distance. We also saw sheep herders with their sheep and a few horses that are wandering around by themselves.

Livestock breeding and crop farming make up the economy of this country. Most Mongolian farmers in this region are very poor. They live in poorly built houses made of stone, cemented together with mud. They toil all day in their fields hoeing corn, millet and other crops. The larger farms are owned and supported by the Chinese who were sent into the country to populate it and dominate the Mongolian people. Only about one percent of the land is used for grain production.

As we got closer to the Gobi desert the terrain became more desert-like. There were no longer mountains along the horizon. It was more and more becoming vast steppe land.

Mongolian is the official language of the Mongolian people. It is a member of the Ural-Altic family of languages which includes Finnish, Turkish, Kazan, Uzbek and Korean. While under communist rule the Mongolians were forced to learn to write their language in the Russian Crillic alphabet. The origional Mongolian writing was in a downward flowing script as seen below.

Mongolian Writing



As the liquid sun slowly started to sink into the western horizon we all settled into our cabins in excited anticipation as our journey unfolded. Around midnight we arrived at the border of Outer Mongolia. We left the train and walked single file in the pitch black darkness to a large building where workmen were changing the grade of the wheels of the cars of the train. It is commonly called 'changing the bogies'. During World War one and two, in an attempt to thwarf their enemies the Russians made their trains and tracks wider then every other country so in order to enter Russian territory the gauge of the wheels had to be changed. This would take several hours we were told. When we got to the place where they were changing the bogies we stood around and watched for a while. First a car was released from the wheels. This was done by jacking up the car with a hydrolic jack, the wheels were rolled out from under the car, then raised by a crane and turned around and put back under the car and reattached. After they finished our car we were allowed to go inside our cabin and go to bed.

After a few hours some Chinese custom agents in green uniforms came around. I was awakened. We had to fill out some papers and show them our passports. After this we were able to go back to sleep for a few more hours.