Photos from Mongolia and China (2nd series)

Remy, thanks for putting up your pictures. A strange and desolate place... I keep trying to put myself in your position; my, what an adventure! I live in an area on the border of the forests and dry grasslands. Some views can look very similar to the landscapes you picture. But signs of habitation look very different; a frontier appearance with influences from China and Russia. Very thought-provoking.
 
These are some utterly wonderful shots. Thank you so very much for sharing them here.

William
 
Outstanding ethnophotography! You should do an even more detailed study of the Mongolian society and culture and start your own website!
 
Peter, I have every intention to do a more thorough project. OldProf has been ever so kind in helping me with the project proposal, but even if I can't get a grant I'll be visiting Mongolia many many times in the future. Just next Februari I'll be there again and I hope to be able to shoot at a more personal and involved level.
 
William, Peter, L.Mar, and everyone else: thanks for the complements.

Mongolia means much to me and I'm glad I can take you all there through my photos.
 
Doug said:
Remy, thanks for putting up your pictures. A strange and desolate place... I keep trying to put myself in your position; my, what an adventure! I live in an area on the border of the forests and dry grasslands. Some views can look very similar to the landscapes you picture. But signs of habitation look very different; a frontier appearance with influences from China and Russia. Very thought-provoking.
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Thought-provoking, indeed. As I said before, Mongolia is my second home and when I go there I just live a normal family life. But every now and then the landscape, the wide expanses, the endless skies, the rugged terrain, the way the people live... it all gets to me. It's sometimes very confusing to realise that people actually live in this wild country, miles away from even the smallest village, with only their own wit and skills to sustain them, but still living full lives, raising their families and attending their herds. In the city and its suburban ger districts live is, of course, different but still it's primitive and hard compared to the easy life I live here in Amsterdam.
 
I'll have to go back through my photos from Vietnam. We were there 2 1/2 years ago to adopt our son (he'll be 3 in January). It was before my rangefinders, but perhaps I have one or two that might be sharable in the pile. Your work certainly inspires me.

William
 
Thanks, Hexagon_Sun. Soon I'll post a third series, which will contain photos of my last week in Mongolia. I hope y'all enjoy those as well.
 
There is something about spare landscapes that eats into your soul. I was born and raised and have lived all my life in big cities yet there is a place in the west of Ireland, the Chonamara Gaeltacht, that is quite bleak with bogs, lakes and mountains and fields separated by stone walls. It is barren yet majestic, and it gets to me so I understand what you are saying, Remy. Thanks for sharing these pictures with us.
 
Yes, those barren landscapes really do something with one's mind.

These suburban ger districts are not even devoid of life or people but the ruggedness of the landscape, the remoteness, the cold and snow... they all make me sometimes feel like a true pioneer. :)
 
Thanks for sharing Remy.

I noted you mentioned in one photo, wathcing Korean soaps. I didn't see any sub-titles. Do they dub in the sound? My wife watches Korean soaps and other TV too, but she does it by satelite.

Just had some dumplings last night. Koreans usually shape them a little different though. Sometimes they can be bought just like those, but that is normally considered Chinese design. The Koreans call most of their dumplings mandu.
 
Exceptional!!!

May I make a recommendation for everyone. There is an option in the gallery to view an album as a slide show. Click on that, set your delay and let all the images self load and just enjoy the show.
 
Offtheherd, the soaps are indeed dubbed. Actually, every foreign program or film is dubbed. Often Hollywood movies are first dubbed in Russian and then over-dubbed in Mongolian. It's very very weird to hear 3(!) languages over another (the spoken texts are usually all a little different in length, so when one language has already finished another isn't).

There are different dumplings in Mongolia. There is 'bootz' (pronounced similarly to "boats"), which are bigger-sized steamed dumplings made of dough and filled with beef. The smaller-sized dumplings are called 'bainsh', and are made the same way as bootz. Both can be bough in the supermarket, pre-made and frozen, ready to be steamed in a rice boiler.

I found that I can order bootz in Beijing with no problem. Especially in the small canteens people will know what what dish I mean. Very useful for a guy who doesn't speak, read or understand Cinese. :)

In Mongolian there is something called 'mantuu' (with "a" pronounced as "a" in "far", and "uu" as "oa" in "boat"). But mantuu is more like a bun, also made of doug but without any filling.

The dumplings are a proper meal; a man is supposed to eat at least 5 bootz and I find that 5 is often enough for me. :)

The mantuu is just a side-dish, often eaten together with a nice bowl of soup or a nice plate of warm food.
 
There are many different mandu types in Korean cuisine. Some are with thin flat rolled dough shells (no yeast). They are baked, fried, or cooked in soups. Sometimes the soups also have round rice "cake" cut diagonally added. the rice cake is called tok, hence the soup is called tok mandu. The mandu may have meat products along with vegetables, or only gegetables.

There are also those with rising dough, such as you describe, some with meat and vegetable products, others with only vegetable products. Also one with red bean past. The rising dough products are steamed and sometimes referred to as a kind of bread.

Arrrrrgghhhh! I am making myself hungry.
 
In Mandarin Chinese, the same word (w/similar pronunciation) refers to a steamed plain bun (although it can also refer to a type of pan-fried bun w/meat fillling, @ least in Shanghai). As you note, there are many Central Asian/Mongolian influences on Northern Chinese cuisine (no surprise given history/geography).

RML said:


In Mongolian there is something called 'mantuu' (with "a" pronounced as "a" in "far", and "uu" as "oa" in "boat"). But mantuu is more like a bun, also made of doug but without any filling.

The dumplings are a proper meal; a man is supposed to eat at least 5 bootz and I find that 5 is often enough for me. :)

The mantuu is just a side-dish, often eaten together with a nice bowl of soup or a nice plate of warm food.
Click to expand...
 
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