Word: mongols
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Dates: during 2001-2001
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...Chinese considered these northern lands, home to the indigenous, untamed Mongol hordes, to be outside the civilized world. And the Great Wall stands testimony to China's long struggle to protect the Middle Kingdom from the nomadic barbarians. But the wall was no obstacle to the heirs of Genghis Khan and their marauding Mongolian warriors, who finally conquered Beijing in 1267. Still, in the khans' time it was an arduous trek over desert and mountain to journey between the Mongolian heartland and Beijing. These days the trip is considerably easier; China United Airlines flies into a number of small commercial...
Little in today's Inner Mongolia resembles the mighty Mongol empire of the great khans. Chinese jeeps and motorcycles have largely replaced the hardy Mongolian ponies of the khans' cavalry, and camels carry as many tourists as traders over the dunes of A-la Shan. But the storied deserts of the region?the Gobi, the Tengger and the Badain Jaran?still offer a staggering variety of landscapes. Flat stretches of sand and rock alternate with Sahara-like dunes, dramatic canyons and plateaus covered with hardy shrubs. The extreme austerity makes you marvel that the Mongol hordes managed to survive, much...
Although few Inner Mongolians speak any English, it is impossible not to understand their hospitality. These hardy nomads are quick to smile?and even quicker to drink. While most ancient Mongol culture has faded away, the greeting of guests with rice whiskey and traditional songs endures. Despite the surrounding desolation, Inner Mongolians manage to scare up impressive quantities of food and drink for visitors. Such feasts are inevitably accompanied by frequent shouts of "gambei!" or "bottoms up!" Rising to the challenge of the toasts is not only good manners, it greatly helps travelers enjoy (or survive) the multiple dishes...
...economic policies may not be solely to blame for Thailand's economic woes?most of Asia is teetering on recession?but some of his actions, especially his government's decision to raise interest rates during such a downturn, have been counterintuitive to say the least. Central bank governor Chatu Mongol Sonakul advised him that raising rates was the wrong policy; the governor was fired soon thereafter...
Many other arms stretched the same way: Indian, Persian, Arab, Mongol, Turkish, Chinese. There were also lesser-known tribal groups, like the Kushans, a Central Asian nomadic lot who around the start of the Christian era controlled northern India, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, using the Kabul region as a summer vacation spot. For all their power, the Kushans handled cultural and religious diversity better than those who have ruled Afghanistan in recent decades. Cambon says they showed "an extreme tolerance and true eclecticism if we bear in mind the diverse origins of the divinities that appear on the reverse...