For lunch I headed up from where the two main buddhist temples are to the muslim quarter. Already from here you could see arabic architecture in the distance. About a 10 minute walk north you are in the muslim district. The first thing you see is a giant white domed arabic structure. This is in fact a new musque under construction next to the old mosque. Unlike my visit to Xinjiang province in August, these are ethnic Hui Chinese Muslims, not Uyghars. Hui Chinese...

My evening flight from Beijing had brought me to Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia Province. Confusingly there are two Mongolia's. The country of Mongolia with its Capital Ulaan Bator, and the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia on the south that borders the country of Mongolia to the north. Even more confusing the chinese outer province is called 'inner' mongolia when it would make sense to be 'outer' mongolia to the main country. I knew about Hohhot and Inn...

The rain had been coming down from last night so I had to start walking with my hood on. There were a couple of foreigners in the area who I was able to ask to direct me to the subway, since now I was in a new area not planned from my original hostel.I didnt realize I was behind the Russian Embassy last nite. I wanted to take a picture of the gates and flag but decided not to chance it with the many police there. To take the stairs to the subway you had to first ...

The rain had been coming down from last night so I had to start walking with my hood on. There were a couple of foreigners in the area who I was able to ask to direct me to the subway, since now I was in a new area not planned from my original hostel. I didnt realize I was behind the Russian Embassy last nite. I wanted to take a picture of the gates and flag but decided not to chance it with the many police there. To take the stairs to the subway you had to first...

We have a three day holiday for Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving), or 5.5 days if you count the weekend and friday night. I decided to goto China again for chuseok, since getting the China visa was such a hassle but for $25 extra you could get a double entry visa. This time I would spend a day in Beijing doing some extra stuff I didnt see on my first trip in 2010, and then a few days in Inner Mongolia Province in the north, bording the Country of Mongolia.I took a fr...