All the Tea in China - Part 8 Inner Mongolia

Crossing into Inner Mongolia the last Province on my China tour also provides a big clue as to the country I will be in next.

But I have two more cities on my China tour to cover for now. First up was Ulanquab, a small city with so many tower cranes being used during the construction of new apartment buildings dotting the sky line I have to wonder where the occupants will come from and if the apartments will ever be occupied. Many, or I would go as far as to say most cities in China were also experiencing a construction boom, but this far North, in an area without major industry or population, I have to wonder what would be the draw card.

 

The last city on my China tour was Erenhot, after a five (5) hour ride on a good quality road but in extremely windy conditions through flat open country side I was relieved to be off my motorcycle. After checking into hotel accommodation I enjoyed a celebratory evening meal and thought about my highlights in China, which include Tiger Leaping Gorge, Shangri la's temples, nearby Tibetan village and winding high mountain passes, Panda Base Chengdu for the cute animal factor, Jiuzhaigou Natural Park with it's lakes and water falls, Xian and the Terracotta Warriors, Old Towns when they were real old towns, three sections of the Great Wall and Beijing with it's many highlights. Food featured as well, in the South rice and rice noodles were the norm, while in the North, wheat, wheat noodles and dumpling were more readily available, all very nice. As with any country, people and interacting with the people provides an unforgettable experience, and China was no different. People were friendly and inquisitive, asking where are you from and where are you going, always enquiring about the big motorcycle.

 

So that was China, the title of my China blogs was leading to my answer as to whether I ride through China again. Initially my thoughts were Not for All the Rice in China, but after digesting the experience, the thought of riding through the Himalayan and Tibetan regions would be cause for reassessment. But for now Mongolia is on my mind, another new country on Mick's Moto Adventure.