Chengde Excusions: Journey to Inner Mongolia

In our first full day at Chengde, we woke up early to visit the Emperor's Summer Palace. The Palace is actually quite huge, as there's also a huge park, a large lake, and a mountain range. There are about 44 "scenic areas," and we visited quite a few of them. In the park area, there are over 1000 deer that live on the premises. They aren't afraid of humans and will actually nod their head in thanks if you feed them food. After walking along the surroundings for a bit, we ended up renting a small motorboat to tour the lake. Afterwards, we headed to a tour agency to book our trip to Inner Mongolia (which is part of China!) and went back for dinner.

The following day, we woke up early to catch our tour bus. After a three hour bus ride, we finally arrived at our destination: the Emperor's Hunting Grounds of Inner Mongolia. Our destination was literally in the middle of nowhere, since we were about 1000m above sea level and there was only one nearby village. We ended up staying at a lodging area that had Mongolian Huts and small "cabins" to sleep in. We deposited our luggage into the cabins (boy were they cold, I ended up wearing pants and a sweatshirt!). Afterwards, we went rafting for about an hour or so before setting off again.

Next, we set out to our first real destination: the grassy plains of Inner Mongolia. The view there is spectacular. You can just look out into the horizon and see an abundance of green, as well as a feeling of "relaxation." We then visited the large horse stables nearby (didn't go on since we didn't have enough time). We ended up taking a "goat cart" to a different part of the grassy plains to take pictures. Afterwards, I went ATVing for a bit (extremely fun!), and took so pictures of the surroundings. Next, I went to the archery range and shot until my fingers were numb since we had to wait for the others to return haha. Our final destination for the day was a Mongolian monument, where people came to pray. We participated in the ritual, which involved walking clockwise around the monument three times, and then throwing a rock to the top of the five-layered altar. (You're allowed to ask for anything you want, but it has to be constrained to within the coming year.) After, we returned to our lodging area for a quick dinner at their restaurant, before heading straight to bed (it got really cold...since there was a lot of wind too).

The next day, we woke up early for a simple breakfast (man tou, hardboiled egg, and congee soup). Afterwards, we headed to a scenic lake and spent an hour or so there visiting the sights and taking pictures. Next, we visited a famous tower, composed of nine separate floors. Adjacent to it, was an old monastery that the former Emperor visited whenever he came to the hunting grounds. Apparently, the tower has been renovated, since there's an elevator that goes through each floor. At the top of the tower (the tallest place in the entire region), you can see way off into the distance in all directions. To the north, you can see the border with Mongolia and the former battle sites between the Mongolian and the Chinese. This last spot marked the end of our journeys, since we began the long bus ride home shortly after.