Passagiata A La Mongolia

Nightlife in one of the remotest cities in China is clearly worth investigating.

And here it is.

Xilinhot, in eastern Inner Mongolia, is served by one of the smallest airports I have stumbled across in China for many a year. And also one of the only airports to retain a semblance of character.

It is built to resemble three traditional Mongolian gers. Admittedly these are concrete gers, but whitewashed and with orange designs on their sloping circular roofs they blended rather well into the grasslands surrounding them. Rather like this traditional one.

The town itself looks much like any other small Chinese city. Rapidly growing out over the steppes. Little to give away the fact that this is Inner Mongolia -- except for the wide streets, expansive plaza and spaces and absence of people. This is a quiet town. I wondered what happened at night.

My first clue came when I stepped out of the airport and into the car park where an embarrassed Chinese tourist was being serenaded by a man and a woman in national dress who then proceeded to ply her with bowls -- bigger by far than shot glasses -- filled with Chinese liquor. It is a clear distillation of great potency that seems designed to ensure an appalling hangover.

Across town, disco music blares out from undistinguished bars where Xilinhot's youngsters sing and down liquor shots until the early hours.

Since I was not compelled to take part in some social engagement involving downing hard liquor I thought of trying the cinema. The board outside advertised "Show of Patriotism". I felt I would in fact need a couple of glasses of Mongolian liquor to pluck up the courage for an evening of such viewing and sought entertainent elsewhere.

It seems that most people have made their way to the Beizi Temple at one end of town. This ancient lamasery stands behind a huge square and is lit up at night, drawing crowds of ambling Xilinhot-ters. They chat. They stroll. They buy icecreams. They pause to take a shot at a board of colourful balloon. They hold hands. They play pool. They play hoop-la. Above all I was reminded of Italy, of the evening "passagiata". The temple square, its lighting veering slightly towards the gaudy, and the corridor between its walls was a delightful revelation.

I awoke refreshed and ready for the main event. A trip out to the grasslands and its grazing flocks.

There seemed to be endless expanses of grassland for the expanding streets of Xilinhot and its "passagiata" to spread across.

Comments

[Chris Stevens]

Think I shall stick to the passable night life of Beijing, I have spent too many nights in small towns either being out and forced to down pints of Chinese liquor or staying in the hotel and being harangued by the phone calls of working girls every 20 minutes and this not my idea of fun. Still, the grass lands sound wonderful- oh for some wide open space.

Thanks for the recommendation about Crazy Stone by the way, without it I would probably have just ignored it in the video shop as another dull Chinese comedy. Extremely funny and very well filmed. I do hope they do an English subtitled version for non-Chinese speaking (well, more like reading given the incomprehensible dialect) friends who think that such humour is not possible in China.

[Liberal Military Officer]

Thanks for an interesting post on an obscure seldom visited corner of the world. I visited Mongolia for a week in 2003 and have vowed to return to spend more time. Maybe I'll include "Inner Mongolia"...