travel starts with photography

The space behind Ulan Tuya was even larger than the space in front of her, but everyone soon realized that the empty space was not meaningless. More than 20 girls, also wearing red Mongolian robes, came running from somewhere and started dancing.

Chen Xing really likes watching such large-scale ethnic dances. Before this, he had seen the gentleness of the Han people, the liveliness of the Uyghur people, and the grace of the Dai people. Now was the first time he saw the dance of Inner Mongolia, which should be characterized by its heroic spirit.

Heroic is a style characteristic. For example, many movements in Mongolian dance are evolved from horse riding movements. The dancers stand with their chest and waist straight, their upper body slightly tilted back, their backs slightly leaning back, and their left and right shoulders dancing alternately. It looks uniquely beautiful.

The people watching at the scene sang along with Ulan Tuya: "The most beautiful flower on the grassland, the fiery red Sarlang..."

The atmosphere on the scene was very lively.

The dancing girls were not wearing traditional Mongolian robes. Perhaps they had been modified for the purpose of performing on stage. They were more in line with modern aesthetics and more beautiful, just like the costumes in current TV dramas.

Chen Xing no longer kept taking close-ups of Ulan Tuya. The pictures also changed with the movements of the dancers, and sometimes he also took pictures of the crowd.

When traveling, either you go with a few girlfriends or you go with your boyfriend.

When visiting most popular tourist spots or during major festivals, the proportion of female tourists is extremely high. There are always some very good-looking ones among them. Whenever Chen Xing sees them, he subconsciously takes pictures of them.

It is indeed an occupational disease.

However, it was also because of this action that he discovered that there were quite a few stars in this venue. In a more hidden corner, Tengger was holding a microphone and ready to go. He was shaking his body to the song while chatting with Nigmat beside him.

Nigmat is not from Inner Mongolia, right? Judging from the name, he is not, but he is wearing a Mongolian robe at this time.

Will Tengger sing the next song?
Nadam is a grand event for the whole Mongolia. In fact, each region will hold its own Nadam meeting separately, and Xilinhot is a grand event for the entire autonomous region, so the most celebrities come. Some come on their own initiative, and some are invited.

Tengger has been very popular in the past two years. Chen Xing even watched his promotional song a few days ago.

What lord is calling...

He doesn't really like this style of music, but the song is very popular. These two months should be his busiest time, but he still found time to participate in Nadam.

After a while, it was indeed Tengger who came up and sang a song called "Father's Prairie, Mother's River".

"My father once described the fragrance of the grassland~"

This song needs to be savored carefully, but the audience was more restless than before. Chen Xing always felt that someone was taking advantage of the chaos, so he quickly squeezed out after listening to the song.

Going further, you will reach the grassland culture non-staple food area.

Nadam is not only a festival for men to show their bravery, but also a rare opportunity for women to show their skills in front of outsiders. There are a lot of yurts here, and there are stalls set up outside the yurts along the road, most of which sell dairy products.

Like in supermarkets, some stalls offer a small piece for free.

Chen Xing didn't want to take it, but he was stuffed with a lot of small cream balls when he passed by. They were kneaded into a round shape like sugar, and they would flatten when squeezed. They tasted like cheese, and most people who were not familiar with them would not be able to get used to it.

There are many places to make stamps here, the closest one is the Traditional Bow and Arrow Exhibition Hall.

This sign is made into a slogan and hung on the top of the yurt. You can see it when you look up as you walk into this area. After all, these yurts are relatively short, and only a slightly taller one will stand out among them.

There were no people queuing outside the door, but when I pushed the door open I saw there were a lot of people.

The exhibits are placed around the yurt, some are placed on the table, and some are hung on the yurt. There are text introductions on the sides in Chinese and Mongolian. The staff here are all very tall and they hold a bow to explain to tourists.

There is a queue area on the right, and when you look forward you can tell it is for the archery experience.

Chen Xing also lined up behind. Each person only had one chance. The arrow was wrapped in cloth and was about six or seven meters away. As long as you could hit the target, you would be stamped. Occasionally, someone could hit the center of the bull's eye, which would cause cheers from the onlookers.

The person in front of Chen Xing was probably a little bored, so he took out a pack of cigarettes and asked Chen Xing, "Dude, do you want to smoke?"

"No."

"Then I will..." He took one and was about to put it into his mouth when someone came over to stop him.

"Friend, smoking is not allowed here."

"Oh, sorry!"

This is indoors, and the air is dry and there are a lot of flammable materials. If a fire breaks out here, it will be terrible. Even if there is no fire, smoking in such a place will affect the people around, and the smell of smoke is difficult to dissipate.

Putting the cigarettes back into the box, he asked Chen Xing: "Brother, have you ever shot arrows?"

"I guess I have played it before."

"Then you should be fine. It's so close. I was a soldier before and I've shot a gun before, so it should be no problem."

"Have you been a soldier? When did you retire?" someone in front of him spoke again.

Many people come to this event together, but there are also some who come alone. If Chen Xing is lucky this year and remembers the time of the festival, he will come by himself even if he can't find a travel companion.

Judging from the two brothers in front, this should be the case as well.

Probably all of them were veterans, so they immediately started talking about their time in the service. Chen Xing listened with great interest.

It's still in time for him to join the army now, but it won't be possible next year because he is over the age limit.

If he did not have the results he has now, joining the military might have been another feasible path for him. It would be much better than working outside at the age of 20. After working for two years and retiring, he could compete for the position of community security guard and avoid taking 20 years of detour.

Each man shot one arrow and it was fast, so they reached them in about ten minutes.

Both veterans were on the target, holding commemorative coins and stamps, and walked out together.

Chen Xing also got the bow and arrow.

The bow was very light for him. He pulled the bowstring a little to test the strength and found that it was also very light.

The person who was helping him prepare reminded him, "Don't shoot in vain, or the bow will break after a few shots."

"Ah."

"Have you played this before? Do you need me to teach you?"

"Need not."

Chen Xing took the arrow from his hand. The red cloth in front of the arrow was quite heavy. If he wanted to shoot at a target farther away, he would have to lift the arrow up a little more. But at this distance indoors, it was not necessary. He could hit the target no matter how he shot at the center.

The targets for Mongolian archery are also quite interesting. The targets Chen Xing used to shoot at abroad were all solid. When he shot upwards with a bow and arrow, a hole would be made. The targets used for archery in Mongolia seemed to be made of grain or woven cloth. There were three colors in total: red in the middle, green in the inner circle, and white on the outermost.

The archery competitions of the locals outside have two yellow and blue circles in the middle, but there are none here, which also reduces the difficulty for tourists. (End of this chapter)