On a certain year, together with a Guangzhou friend, we set out for a drive to the eastern grasslands of Inner Mongolia.

The friend designed a non-classic, non-professional self-driving route independently, which was a reckless and impulsive trip. Ultimately, it resulted in both gains and losses. Now, reviewing it, it's actually quite interesting.

Finally, the completed route was:Weiyang – Arukoerqin Banner – Ulanhaote City – Yaxi – Renhe – Moreldaga – Shuwe – Black Mountain Head – Hulunbeier – Manzhouli – Xinbalihulubu – Xinbalihulitu – Alshan – Donguzhumqin Flag – Xilingol,

Seventh day: Shuwe to Black Mountain Head, the best place was just bland

Due to the Russian side's forest fires for several days, the entire Hulunbeier grassland was covered with smoke and haze, with heavy smog,

There were a lot of birds resting on the riverbanks on both sides of the border, as if they had escaped from the fires,

A horseman was demonstrating his tame horse, saying that some people had ridden horses before, but the horses got scared and caused an accident, costing hundreds of thousands of yuan. It's essential for tourists to have someone hold the reins and not let the horses run freely,

Grassland children are scenery for tourists, but they are a summer growing up,

The polluted sky, the gloomy grassland, could only take close-up and detail shots,

Eighth day, the gloomy Hulunbeier, was no longer what I saw during the grassland,

The grassland's haze didn't decrease, and it was still gloomy all day, trying to shoot rapeseed flowers along a small road, but it wasn't a good shot,

Now there are many beautiful large tents on the grassland, which are actually for tourism development and accommodation, while small tents with fences are the summer residences of nomadic herdsmen,

The haze was getting heavier, and the visibility of the grassland was very low,

It's painful to see this scene – there are too many coal mines and power plants on the grassland,

We drove along a small road and thought of looking at the deep grassland, and suddenly a red off-road vehicle appeared ahead, and the driver rolled down the window and spoke fluent Chinese, 'Hello old friend, I'm lost, I'm a Mongolian, how did I get to China',

I was surprised – were we crossing the border or they were,

Finally understood, one is the drought without rain, the cattle and sheep didn't get enough 'bath', and the other is that they were driven to a concentrated sheepfold at night,

Taking pictures of these cute sheep, and then seeing their dirty bodies, was really a little pity,

However, it was most distressing to see this scene – there are too many coal mines on the grassland,

We drove along a small road and saw a modern mowing machine, which was so convenient,

During the winter in Hulunbeier, they would be covered with thick snow, and the cattle and sheep relied on this hay,

The ninth day: rushing to Manzhouli

We decided to go to Manzhouli, and as soon as we came out, we saw a power plant, which was actually in Hulunbeier, and there were many power plants like this, all caused by coal,

The road was well-paved, and the air seemed to be getting better, and the haze seemed to be dispersing. We really felt frustrated for a few days,

The grass was a little yellow, except for drought, it was also the end of July, the best season, actually the best time to see Hulunbeier grassland is in early July to mid-July,

There are more and more tourist projects and buildings on the grassland, especially near the highway, it's hard to find the original landscape,

Some tourism projects have introduced a lot of projects, such as building slopes into 'slides', and flat terrain into 'Latin cars', which all damage the overall grassland,

This is the river and cattle group that I shot, but it's not as beautiful as a few years ago,

Near Manzhouli, there's a beautiful wetland, we must protect it,

We divided into two groups, I and my friend went to Xinbalihulubu, and the other group went to Manzhouli,

Tenth day: Watching exciting horse races, grassland's Nada Mur,

Xinbalihulubu has a friend, told us that Xinbalihulitu has a Nada Mur today, but the right flag is not available, and even the surrounding county seat is full. Friends have booked a room for us in advance,

We got up at 2 a.m. and drove back, rushing to the right flag, along the way, the traffic was constant, and police guarded at every intersection, which shows that the grassland people attach great importance to and love this activity,

Why do they hold the race so early, because the horses here are held in the morning, mainly long-distance sprints, the endurance of Mongolian horses is truly admirable,

The horse race is the most exciting and popular project in the grassland's Nada Mur, of course, there will be generous prize money for winners,

Some horse farms will have a few horses participating, and the riders are usually younger, which reduces the burden on the horses and makes it easier to win good results,

Mongolian children can ride horses from a young age, which is true, they like horses and the feeling of riding,

Nada Mur is a festival for Mongolians, everyone is dressed up to attend,

The Nada Mur meeting not only includes horse racing, but also wrestling, archery, and many other activities, I don't know why wrestling has no weight restrictions and group divisions, and I didn't expect it to end with a skinny guy winning, it seems that skills are the most important,

Eleventh day, visiting the Nomonhan Ruins, friends took us into the deep grassland

In the evening, we returned to the left flag, drank with my friend, she said she wanted to take us to see the deep grassland, don't hurry,

There was a small episode, we woke up early in the hotel to wait for my friend, and saw many beautiful lilacs on the roadside, so we took pictures, and someone came to question me, because the road opposite is a military camp, I took pictures of flowers here, I showed my ID card to check that I took pictures of flowers, only then did he say 'it's okay' , this is a border line, it's important to pay attention,

Friends first took us to see the Nomonhan War site museum,

This battle took place in the early days of World War II between Japan and the Soviet Union at the border of the current Manchuria and Mongolia, Nomonhan. The Nomonhan Battle lasted for 135 days. The troops on both sides invested more than 200,000 people, 500 cannons, 900 planes, and more than 1,000 tanks and armored vehicles. More than 60,000 people died,

The result was the victory of the Soviet army, and the commander Zhu Xifu, who commanded this battle, became a hero of the Soviet Union and was made a hero,

Next, we went to the deep grassland, which is a place that tourists rarely reach, along the way we saw mountains and rivers,

However, the most photographed were cattle and sheep, they were very clean,

Only in the deep grassland, there is such a quiet, perhaps this is the moment I was most moved along the way,

Driving on the grassland is very comfortable, as we drove and drove, we suddenly appeared a red off-road vehicle, and driver rolled down the window and spoke fluent Chinese, 'Hello old friend, I'm lost, I'm a Mongolian, how did I get to China',

I was surprised – were we crossing the border or they were,

Finally understood, one is the drought without rain, the cattle and sheep didn't get enough 'bath', and the other is that they were driven to a concentrated sheepfold at night,

Taking pictures of these cute sheep, and then seeing their dirty bodies, was really a little pity,

Eleventh day, visiting the Nomonhan Ruins, friends took us into the deep grassland

In the evening, we returned to the left flag, drank with my friend, she said she wanted to take us to see the deep grassland, don't hurry,

There was a small episode, we woke up early in the hotel to wait for my friend, and saw many beautiful lilacs on the roadside, so we took pictures, and someone came to question me, because the road opposite is a military camp, I showed my ID card to check that I took pictures of flowers, only then did he say 'it's okay' , this is a border line, it's important to pay attention,

Friends first took us to see the Nomonhan War site museum,

This battle took place in the early days of World War II between Japan and the Soviet Union at the border of the current Manchuria and Mongolia, Nomonhan. The Nomonhan Battle lasted for 135 days. The troops on both sides invested more than 200,000 people, 500 cannons, 900 planes, and more than 1,000 tanks and armored vehicles. More than 60,000 people died,

The result was the victory of the Soviet army, and the commander Zhu Xifu, who commanded this battle, became a hero of the Soviet Union and was made a hero,

Finally, I and my friend finished this self-driving tour, which was 12 days in total, if only counting the journey, it was 12 days.

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