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2004 Mongolia – the Eternal Blue Sky and the Great Steppes
August 13 – August 26, 2004 by David W. S. Liu

The first impression of Mongolia to majority of the people probably will be the Mongolia barbeque, Genghis Khan, vast and endless grass fields, … 

Mongolia is 1,560,000 square K.M. (44 times of Taiwan) with only 2.6 million populations.  You probably not aware that there are two part of Mongolia; (1) the Inner Mongolia in PRC China, 1,180,000 square K.M. with 23 million populations (3.5 million or 15% Mongols and 85% Chinese) and (2) Mongolia Republic (includes Gobi & the Great Steppes) which was independent from China since 1911.  Mongolia Republic is a developing country, national income per person is only US$800 per year.  There is no heavy industry, civil industries are not well developed; a lot of resources are imported directly from China thru the only one railway transportation.  After 1990, personal properties are allowed and gradually open the market for private business operations. 

Mongols are nomadic people 游牧民族, 逐水草而居, live and move on the Great Steppes.  Mongols' philosophy of land is different from Chinese, Chinese always tries to "own the land" and settle down while Mongols just "use the land" and moving around.  In the ancient history, there were battles and conflicts between Mongols and Chinese, the Great Wall (5,600 K.M. from Qin, Han dynasties to Ming dynasty) was built beginning from the 7th century BC to prevent Mongols invasion from the north. 
Northern nomadic people have different names in the history as listed below:
 
Northern Nomads Period Chinese History   
東胡 Dong Hu         BC770-221         Zhou dynasty            
匈奴 Xiong Nu        BC475-220        Qin, Han dynasty    
鮮卑 Xian Bei          AD220-589        魏晉南北朝             
突厥 Tu Jue             AD581-907         Tang dynasty   
契丹 Qi Dan             AD907-1125      遼   
金 King                 　AD1115-1234                                       
蒙古 Mongolia         AD1206-1911 　元, Ming dynasty 

The famous Mongolia emperor Genghis Khan established his great Mongol Empire in AD1206 and conquered majority of Asia and central east Europe.  His grand son 忽必烈 conquered Song dynasty and build-up Yuan dynasty in China.  Mark Polo visited China in AD1275 was in Yuan dynasty.  Mongolia Yuan dynasty only last for 20 years in China and overthrew by Chu Yuan-chan and replaced by the Ming dynasty. In Qing dynasty, Mongolia was occupied by China.

There is no directly flight from Taipei to Mongolia, and we need to fly via Beijing to Inner Mongolia and Mongolia Republic.  It requires two visas in China (one from Inner Mongolia to Mongolia + one from Mongolia back to Inner Mongolia) and a visa in Mongolia.  Our trip starts from Beijing to eastern Mongolia Hailar 海拉爾to see the famous Hulunbeier grassland 呼倫貝爾大草原; also visited border city 滿洲里, the trading zone between Russia and China. I was quite enjoyed Russian dancing girl performing at the dinner. 

The trip was organized by ROC Mongolia and Tibet Committee 蒙藏委員會 as well as  Chinese Society of Natural Photography 自然與生態攝影學會 and each location in addition to a local tour guide we also have one professor or expert to accompany with us.  呼和浩特 Huhhot is the capital of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China; 包頭 Baotou city is the largest city in Inner Mongolia, Baotou city is a highly industrialized city (1.2 million population) and the 2nd largest steel industry in China.  When you travel in the Inner Mongolia, except the store signboard have both the Mongolia and Chinese writings; you feel just like travel in north China.  People speak Chinese, eat and dress in Chinese way and Mongols becomes minority.  However, to preserve Mongolia tradition, Mongols are taught by bilingual languages.  Yellow River flow thru Inner Mongolia, therefore, not only sheep, horse, cattle, livestock industry, you also can see plenty of agriculture grow corns, fruits, wheat, etc.

We took Aero Mongolia from Huhhot to Ulaanbaatar烏蘭巴托, the capital of Mongolia.  The plane is a Fokker-50 (made in Russia) which only can accommodate 50 passengers and each passenger is only allow for 15kg luggage plus 5kg hand carry baggage; I paid US$20 for 10kg overweight surcharge.  Here we are, Mongolia!  The Eternal Blue Sky and the Great Steppes grassland.  Mongolia would not be Mongolia without the Great Steppes; the only thing that will match for size is the Eternal Blue Sky.  It is undeveloped and no pollution over there.  Riding horse on the grassland is a great fun and I did enjoy it; mobile phone can not be connected and forget about the outside world for a while.  Only sheep, goat, horse, cattle, eagle and shepherd.  Very quite and very peaceful.  The sky is so blue, the cloud is so white, children are so naive.  I brought some candies, cookies and chocolates to share with the children, at one place, I only had two chocolate bars left and 8 children surrounded me, they took turns to have a bite of the chocolate bar, tears were on my eyes, ...  I felt sorry for them, they are so little and should be in the kindergarten; on the other hand, they are content with their life style without knowing the outside world. 

We also visited Hustai National Park, Erdene-Zuu temple, stayed two nights at Bayan Gobi Mongolia camps.  Gobi is different from what we thought.  It is not a desert without plants or grass.  The Gobi comprises one third of Mongolia's territory. We were lucky to see the Naadam – the greatest festivity of the Mongols, traditional folk song and dancing, wresting competition, horse racing competition,… etc. The road construction is very poor, I remember one day from Ulaanbaatar to the camping area is 266 k.m. and took 8 hours drive.  Most of the vehicles are Japanese cars, I only saw one Ford Explorer.  A four-wheel drive 3.0-liter Ford Escape SUV will be super on the Mongolia grassland.  May be FCO should consider to donate two Escapes to Mongolia Government Tourist Bureau to promote Ford NBX (No Boundaries Experience) brand image – a free advertising to the world.

Summer from June, July and August is the best season to travel in Mongolia.  Rainfall is only 300 to 400 mm for one whole year and honestly speaking, it is not suitable for living.  Often time we heard cold front comes from Mongolia, and the temperature will be drop to less than 10 degrees in Taiwan.  Winter in Mongolia is severely cold and temperature will be 20 or 30 degrees below 0.  I can not image how they can make it through the winter in a small Mongolia camp.  I took a lot of pictures of the landscape, the people and conservation of nature and the environment.  Again, I will share these with my colleagues, my friends and my students at National Taipei University. 

David W. S. Liu
Note was taken on my way back home on August 25/26, 2004.
While Taiwan was hit by Typhoon. Flight of Air Macau delayed by 7 hours and waiting
at Beijing Capital International Airport.

Reader's feedback

David,

What a beautiful country!!  Thank you for sharing these lovely pictures.  The photo you gave me as a departing gift from Taiwan has followed us to Japan.  Please come to visit us in Japan if you have the opportunity.  Kind regards,

Nancy Nemeth

From:           Livingston, Shawna (S.) 

Awesome photos! I can't imagine that kind of places still exist. It seems the ladies in photo 5 were dressed up in traditional outfit just for the photos. Thanks for sharing.

From:           Basham, Andrew (A.R.) 

I think that these photos are even better. I am really quite amazed at what you have shown. Amazing experience.

Hi David,

You are a wonderful tour guide!  Thank you for sharing your trip to Mongolia.  I learned very much, and the photos were excellent.  While in Taiwan last year, I enjoyed learning about old Chinese sayings from you.  Here is an old American saying that suits you: "A person is most valuable when he can share and transfer his learnings to other people."  Thanks again.

Please keep me included on your travels, I appreciate this learning opportunity.  

Bob Goodwin

Dear 劉主計長:

謝謝您,讓我有機會一起分享您旅途過往所紀錄的照片

 十分驚喜於主計長--鏡頭下的世界是如此的豐富與精采

草原上的大氣魄,令人為之動容

尤其是HAPPY SMILE所蘊藏的天真, 讓人愛不忍釋

 蔡枚芬敬上

I suggest you to create an online album, then all of your friends can go up and view. 

Sherry Lu

David,

This is really a fine piece of writing. I think, you are the only one who really leads a "Zestful Life" in FLH. You are a successful man with a fulfilling life. Good for you.

Selene Chien

Dear David,

Thank you very much for sharing with me your photos. In addition to envying you for the opportunity of being able to travel to such a distant land, I also found that you are so gifted in taking pictures. I don't know too many people who are good at both professional management and hobby; obviously you are one of few. I intend to learn from you as you have so many talents, if you don't mind. I will be grateful if you can send me your work periodically for me to learn from you. Best regards, Tony Su