This past weekend I grabbed a bus out of town with a couple friends – tents, sleeping bags, and several days of food on our backs. The goal was to get off at ‘Turtle Rock’ and make it to the … Continue reading Backcountry Mongolia
The city of Nanjing has long stood as a center for culture and education in China, its prominence sealed in the history books as the capital of several dynasties. Located 300 km inland from the coastal port-city of Shanghai, it … Continue reading Rewriting Modern History – the Nanjing Massacre Memorial
Breathtaking in its brick and mortar glory, much of Xi’an’s ancient history unlocks centuries before the ‘Common Era.’ Of its countless attractions, Xi’an holds the keys to the tomb of Qin Shi Huang – the First Emperor of the Qin … Continue reading Shan Xi’an – a City of the Ancients
While 12:00 AM, January 1, is generally referred to as the New Year, a select few celebrate a more auspicious holiday, which coincides with the cycles of the moon. Lunar New Year – or ‘Chun Jie’ in China, ‘Tsaagan Sar’ in … Continue reading Itinerary of a Sino-Mongolian Slideshow
A tradition common throughout Mongolia is for families to take a quick trip to the countryside on New Years to catch the first glimpses of sunlight that edge into the steppe landscape. With the new light comes a fresh start. … Continue reading Greeting the New Year’s First Sunrise in Mongolia
About fifteen kilometers South of Ulaanbaatar, across the wide-pine forests of Bogd Khan, lies the Manzushir Temple – what used to house three hundred Buddhist monks. When the Soviet Union turned Mongolia into a communist satellite state, the ideological ardor … Continue reading The Manzushir Ruins on a Silent Day
Every so often a foreigner will pass through the tiny border town of Zamiin Uud, located along the southeast corner of Mongolia on the pretense of what many refer to as a “visa run” – a literal sprint to the … Continue reading Zamiin Uud – A Dusty Border Town
As just another ugly duckling of many standing outside the ‘Dragon Bus Center,’ a gruff Mongolian driver grabbed my bag and chucked it on board. I surmised my situation in the front of the vehicle as it filled with a … Continue reading Khuvsghul Nuur: More than a Lake
“There,” he pointed to three brownish horses that blended in almost too perfectly with the rock outcrops, colored in reddish hues. We slowly crept along the ridge of the hill as our guide extracted a pair of binoculars from his … Continue reading In Search of the Lost Takhi Horses of Mongolia
Takhi horses are ancient wild horses with 66 chromosomes, as opposed to a domesticated horse with 64; thus they cannot breed with other horses. They have no color variation, and have been over-hunted throughout the years, leading them to be … Continue reading Takhi Horses in the Mongolian Steppes
The Mongolian Grill. Anyone want some Bali Hai? Let me establish right now, this is not Mongolian food. It’s quite easy to generalize Asia as the place for budget foodies — at least I’ve always felt that there was some level of … Continue reading Ulaanbeats: Fortune Cookies Favor the Bold
Nathan T. Hsieh is a recent graduate of Duke University, where he managed to finagle a Bachelor’s in Mathematics, with Minors in Environmental Science and the History of Religion. Having been born and raised in the savory South, Nathan chose … Continue reading Nathan T. Hsieh
