Hohhot is the provincial capital of Inner Mongolia, located 1 hr flight away from Beijing. The Dairy Capital of china. Dust from the desert travels with the north western wind over hohhot and sometimes all the way to beijing. Hohhot is also a city in constant growth, construction is everywhere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohhot

The Inner Mongolian Museum displays many Mongolian artifacts. Below is a Mongolian war chariot yurt, and a catapult commonly used by the armies of Genghis Khan.

Despite what Great Khans Mongolian BBQ would have you think, mongolian meals are not cook on a large hotplate with giant chopsticks. Meals mostly consist of diary products and lamb or beef.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_cuisine

My Grandma’s house. I spent most of my early life in this house, its quite big in Chinese standards even now, consisting of 4 rooms and 2 bathrooms on 2 floors.

A Chinese Kang bed-stove. A fire is lit underneath the bed and the heated air travels around and heats the bed above. Great for long cold winters but only if you are accustomed to sleeping on a hard surface.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kang_bed-stove

what a beautiful city, i shall be back

Arrived at Taipei in a rainy afternoon. Quite a contrast compared to the dusty cities of mainland china. Although everything looks familiar, it also feels quite foreign.

Back from the Chengde to Beijing! Feels good to be back in a major city. The traffic is a little slow but its much more convenient and filled with modern comforts.

Beijing has a lot of Maoshu trees that drop seeds every year at this time. Its like dandelions but bigger and the seeds float everywhere in the city. It looks magical, but is also a nuisance for the locals since it usually floats straight into your nostrils.

Dashazi, this is where i hung out as a kid.

On the the bus, high school student in the middle

The place where i grew up has turned from a factory to an arts cultural center. Very weird indeed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/798_Art_Zone

I used to come to this area to watch the trains pass by as a kid. I was fascinated by trains, and all their constantly moving mechanical parts. Back then they had steam engines, not diesel powered locomotives. The steam engines had their own mechanical grace, especially with the sounds that they make. I’m glad they decided to keep a portion of a train here, it really brings me back to my childhood.

Chengde, the city best known for its summer resort palace for the past Qing dynasty emperors. The trip from Chengde to Beijing in the Qing dynasty would take roughly a month, with multiple stops in smaller palaces and hunting exhibitions in between. Today it takes 3 hrs on the Jingcheng expressway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chengde

the Jingcheng expressway passes through 2 sections of the greatwall. Simatai Greatwall can be seen in the distance built on impossibly high cliffs.

the 12 totems of the Chinese zodiac

since summers in china is hot and Chengde is located near a body of water, the emperors throne room is completely made out of cedar to prevent bugs like moths and mosquitoes from nearing the emperor.

While we were in Chengde, we met with my grand aunt, who is the sister of my moms father. She is 82 this year, and still takes 3-4 mile walks in the morning in the palace (free for local seniors). Here she made food for us, probably the best home cooked meal i’ve had ever in my life haha