Page 16 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2016Q1

Alxa Jade & Ornamental Stone

Tourism Festival, Mongolia

By Gudrun Benz, Germany
Photos by Gudrun Benz

Top; New stone museum in lxa or Alashan Left Banner is a region at the
Alashan city north west of Inner Mongolia, a province in
Middle right; Social activities north-west China. In this remote area, sum-
at the festival. Welcome mer is short, warm and parched. Winter is
dinner: a whole roasted Afreezing cold and can be very long. Winds
lamb was brought on the blow down directly from Siberia. The best time for
stage by actors in Mongolian
costumes. The meat of the tours is August to October. The country is covered
lamb was distributed to guests with immense grasslands and deserts dotted with
afterwards. saltwater lakes. Only the Tengger Moon Lake, named
Bottom right; Group photo of for its crescent shape when viewed from the east, is a
participants of the BCI VIP tour freshwater lake. On the other hand, the lake resembles
to Inner Mongolia and Ningxia
the map of China seen from the west. It is located in
the Tengger Desert. Special local products are cash-
mere, camel hair and curious stone carvings. Camel
hair products are exported to Japan, Russia, South
Korea and other countries.
I visited Alashan city for the first time in 2005. Since Cross-Street Stone Appreciation Cultural Exchange,
than it developed considerably and has nowadays a Alxa Jade & Ornamental Stone Tourism Festival” at
population of about one million inhabitants. the Domo Stone Culture Exhibition Center (a grand
After a bus drive of about three hours from Yin- new stone museum) on September 23. The ceremony
chuan airport in Ningxia province, our BCI VIP took place in the open before the huge marble ramp of
group arrived in Alashan on September 22, 2015, the museum, intricately carved and framed by luxuri-
one day before the opening ceremony of the “2015 ant flowerbeds. The stairs at both sides of the ramp

14 | BCI | January/February/March 2016