(Written by a junior high school student in Beijing)

          When you read here that my mother and I visited Inner Mongolia this past summer, it may make you think that we went to a strange and mysterious place with fierce warriors riding over grasslands and deserts.  Perhaps you expect that we slept in a yurt - a kind of tent made of animal hides suspended on poles.

          In thinking of the Mongols, you may remember that the Great Wall failed to keep them out, and that they captured China back in the 13th century.  You may have read about Kublai Khan who established himself in Beijing as the first emperor of the Yuan dynasty back then.

          It's part of history that Mongolia was divided into two parts:  the Mongolian People's Republic with 1 1/2 million people dominated pretty much by Russia, and Inner Mongolia, a "self-governing" region of China.

          Inner Mongolia is also part of our personal history for myi mother lived there from the time she was born until she finished medical school.  Then then moved to Beijing, China's capital city, where we live most of the year with millions of other people.  We accepted the invitation to get out of the city during the summer as the temperatures are very pleasant in Inner Mongolia.  Winters there are very, very cold with freezing temperatures like Siberia.

          Her friend lives in Hohhot, the capital city of that region, with a population of 700,000 that grows to over a million if the small towns around it are added.  It takes 11 hours by train from Beijing to Hohhot and we got a brief glimpse of some of the towers of the Great Wall on the way.  I've heard that's the only structure one can see on earth from outer space, but I find that hard to believe.

          Hohhot is just a little north of the Gobi Desert and thee is enough rain for the famous grasslands there.  It's also an area well known for horse racing, polo, and stunt riding.  During our two-week vacation we couldn't resist riding on camels as well as horses.

          The camels were all tied together because they were all part of the same family, and the owner didn't want them separated.  My mom and I are riding on the right.  We didn't know the other people.  In the background, you can see a bit of the Gobi Desert.

          Look at the color that sky and the white clouds.  My mom is in the middle, her friend is at the right, and I'm on the left.  I'm told that riding white horses is good luck.

          We ate out a lot and liked the Mongolian hot pots in which you could cook just about anything you wanted.  The roasted lamb and kebabs were good, too.  So much food was served that you couldn't eat it all.  I got a chance to try "cream tea" made of camel's milk with salt or sugar and found that I liked it.  Some people find it revolting.

         One of our best days was spent at the Dinosaur Fossil Park.  Why it's called a park I'll never know for it was a modern two-story building with a Fossil Preparation Laboratory where the fossils were cleaned, a Skeleton Mounting Laboratory, and an Exhibition Hall in which dinosaur skeletons that had been found in Inner Mongolia were exhibited.  They were from the Cretaceous period.  I'm told that was from 144 to 65 million years ago.   

          This a Gobisaurus; the largest and most complete one that has been found anywhere in the world.  We also saw a Gallimimus that was 4 meters long and a Psittacosaurus that was 1.3 meters in length.

          The shelving containing fossils of dinosaurs went on and on.  Though they seem to be in disorder, the scientists knew each one of them.  They could tell you exactly where they fit into various skeletons.  All of them are invaluable.  Through study of them, much more is being learned about our geographic history.

          It was hard to return to Beijing for the start of another year in junior high school after such an exciting vacation, but I know that mom and I will find other spots to visit in the years to come.