travel starts with photography

Xilin Gol, also known as Ximeng, is located in the central part of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Going north across the border is Mongolia. The father-in-law of the famous crosstalk actor Mr. Yu is the naval commander here... Of course, this is just a joke, but it is the most profound impression of Mongolia for many people.

The place where the plane landed is the city where the Nadam Festival is held, called Xilinhot, which is the main center of Xilin Gol.

The airport is very close to the city center. The navigation shows that it only takes 30 minutes to drive to the city center. And the Nadam site tomorrow is only a dozen kilometers away from them. The map shows that it is already the outskirts of Xilinhot.

This is not a big city.

Taking back the phone, Chen Xing said, "Let's find a place to eat first?"

Everyone agreed.

It's almost eleven o'clock now. The airplane meal this morning was very bad. We are all hungry, so of course we have to find a place to satisfy our hunger.

Zhou Peng was also very curious, whether the beef and mutton on the grassland were as magical as Chen Xing said?

Is it really that delicious?
Chen Xing found a restaurant with relatively high ratings on Honeycomb and stopped a car at the intersection.

This week is the most important tourist season of the year in Xilinhot. The airport is filled with tourists. Seventy percent of the passengers on the flight that Chen Xing and his companions just took were coming to Xilinhot to participate in the Nadam Festival.

The situation outside the airport now is that there are many people and few taxis.

Although there are special buses from the airport to the city center, there are not enough people to take them. Many people want to take a taxi directly to their booked hotel, or like Chen Xing and his friends, they want to go to a famous local restaurant.

So, taxis have to be robbed.

Chen Xing was experienced in squeezing into the crowd to watch the fun, but he was not so skilled in grabbing a taxi. There was a girl holding on to the car door and looking at him eagerly. How could Chen Xing ignore the look in her eyes and grab a taxi with them?

But if we wait any longer, maybe the next flight will bring more people.

So Chen Xing came back and pushed Zhou Peng over.

"You have to do this." Chen Xing said.

He can feel sorry for his sister, but does Zhou Peng dare to do the same now?

Qin Xinlei was watching from the side and knew what Chen Xing was thinking, so she crossed her arms and looked at Zhou Peng and laughed: "Husband! I'll leave it to you then."

Zhou Peng gave Chen Xing a middle finger and went to find a car.

There was no need for him to do anything. He just said to the girls, "...My wife is pregnant and can't stand for long. Thank you for your hard work, ladies." Then he easily stopped a car. It was so simple that it was shocking.

Chen Xing came over with two suitcases and said with a smile, "I should have asked you to come earlier."

"Haha, if you had used your beauty trick, we would have left long ago."

The driver opened the trunk and got out with a warm smile: "Let me do it, you guys get in the car first."

"No, no!" Zhou Peng said he could do it.

"You're welcome, you're welcome. Welcome to our grassland. Please get in the car. I'll let you go."

The driver was quite tall and looked like the Mongolian people I had seen in videos before... Mongolians don't believe in abdominal muscles.

Chen Xing sometimes finds it strange. In ancient times, the south was richer than the north, so people could eat well, right? But why do people get taller as you go north? Although Chen Xing is only 1.8 meters tall, a man in Sichuan Province who is 1.7 meters tall is not bad. In northern cities, 1.7 meters tall is not even the average level, and handsome men of 1.8 meters tall can be seen everywhere.

The luggage for three people combined was a bit much, and it was hard to say how long it would take for Chen Xing and the others to move it. In the end, the eldest brother came over to help and finally put the large box in the trunk.

He worked for more than a minute to put everything in place, then got in the car and asked, "Where are you going?"

When the driver asked this, Chen Xing suddenly didn't want to go to the restaurant recommended on the Internet. How could the things on the Internet be as authentic as the recommendations of locals? So he asked, "Brother, we want to eat roasted whole lamb. Do you know where it tastes the best?"

The vehicle started and drove towards the city.

"Of course I know. How would you like to eat?"

"What's the point?"

"There are many, but there are two types for you tourists. One is half-baked and half-fried. It is not fried in a pan or oil, but the sheep skin is baked crispy during the baking process, and the fat inside, yes, the sheep fat will turn into oil. The aroma of the oil is especially good... This is the method that has been passed down in Mongolia for a long time."

Everyone in the car was drooling, including the driver, who was also greedy.

There is plenty of beef and mutton on the Mongolian grasslands, but you can't often eat a whole roasted lamb. In a restaurant, this dish costs more than a thousand yuan.

Zhou Peng asked: "What about the other kind?"

"The other kind has become popular in recent years. It seems that they value the tenderness of the meat more. You can eat it with dipping sauce, onions, pancakes, etc. I am probably used to the first kind. I think it will taste good no matter what seasoning I put on the grill, but many tourists prefer the second kind."

Although Mongolian mutton has good texture and little mutton smell, it is not completely free of mutton smell. Many people just don’t like the taste of mutton, so the second way of eating it is more popular.

After all, with the dipping sauce, the remaining mutton flavor that you don’t like will be covered up by the dipping sauce.

Chen Xing looked back at Zhou Peng and Qin Xinlei who were sitting in the back row and asked, "What do you think?"

Zhou Peng also looked at his wife.

Qin Xinlei thought for a moment and said, "Then let's try the second one first? I want something spicy, and we're not here for just one or two days, so we can find time to try their traditional roasted whole lamb later."

Zhou Peng is a man without any ideas now. He started nodding without hearing clearly what his wife said.

"Listen to you."

Chen Xing shrugged and said to the driver, "Let's go get the kind that has dipping sauce."

According to what the driver said, the roasted whole lamb he had eaten before should be the first kind. It was very pleasant to tear the hot lamb meat directly off with your hands after roasting, and then eat the meat with a big bowl of wine.

He was also very enthusiastic and kept introducing to Chen Xing the activities they could enjoy here.

There are not many to mention. Horse racing, archery and wrestling are the three famous arts of the grassland. However, tourists generally cannot experience them. Only at the Nadam Festival can you see the real three arts of the grassland.

In addition, there are outdoor barbecues, hiking, nomadic cultural experiences (milking, etc.), paragliding, hot air balloons...

He saw that Chen Xing brought a camera and recommended a few places with beautiful scenery. Chen Xing secretly wrote them down and decided to go and check them out when he had time. After all, he was not only out to have fun this time, but also to help his brother take wedding photos. (End of this chapter)