Fatlo.af

Well, let’s clarify something straight away, they are neither natural or cool. It’s a chip, a potato chip to be precise and the flavour is bordering ever so close to being an abomination. This is but one of many different flavours in Inner Mongolia but they aren’t fooling me, it’s all about the artificial additives.

As I previously discussed, in my new employment I have had to spend a month in China. To narrow it down slightly, Inner Mongolia.

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Note the city toward the top of the map, that’s where I am. For those interested, I’m about an hours flight and then 4.5 hours drive north of Beijing. I flew into Tongliao, which isn’t too bad, the airport itself is considerably smaller than Parafield Airport in SA, to give you a perspective. From there the highways out of the city were fantastic, very well built and very smooth. On either side, we (I was travelling with an American Software Engineer from my company at this point) were flanked by various fields being tilled or harvested. Not by farming equipment of any modern standard of course, mainly people and tractors built in the 60′s.

This continued for a good two hours or so, I thought it wasn’t going to be all bad. I was already tired from getting into Beijing at 11:30pm and then leaving for Tongliao on a flight at 7am the following morning so being in a cramped VW Jetta wasn’t doing wonders for my comfort. However, all this changed down the road when it became apparent that the road we were on, wasn’t finished.

Before I get into that though, let me tell you about the flight to Tongliao. China Air, not exactly known for their quality was the provider of the flight from Beijing to Tongliao. I’m sure if PJ comments on the site, he can deliver some wisdom about this airline in particular. Anyway, the aircraft, a Boeing 737-300 was new once. In the early 80′s. However this wasn’t the main problem, the plane should last for another 20 years if maintained properly but it was the pilot that was causing my main concern. He was clearly ex-military, between feeling like we were escaping an impending missile attack by taking off in the roughest and quickest manner possible and landing as though he was searching in vain for the arrestor strap on the back of an aircraft carrier, it was fine. I’m sure for the wonderful people at China Air, he’s a great pilot, I’ve experienced much, much better.

Anyway, back to the road.

So, yes, the road was good, very good, and then it wasn’t. We were switching from sealed roads to dirt sidings, to unsealed bitumen to concrete pads, to sealed roads again and then to dirt sidings once more. This continued for the better part of the rest of the trip. At some points we deviated a couple of hundred metres off the road on a narrow path, interspersed with a small creek we had to traverse which came up to the bottom of the car.

To everyone else though, this was the norm. We passed a truck which had collapsed into a ditch what looked like a few weeks previously, it’s trailer still attached but the cabin was in tatters. Clearly it was unmovable.

The city I’m staying in, Huo Lin He, is quite different. The mix of industry money and standard issue poverty is surreal to say the least. The city has some amazing buildings and some derelict and just plain dangerous ones too. Stereotypically, the Communist building is one of the most impressive of the city.

Around the edges of the city are trees, lots of big ones, freshly planted. To me it looks like they’re trying to hide the fact that on the outside it’s just regular Inner Mongolia, stricken with poverty and is essentialy a barren wasteland.

Also, the people here are crazy on the roads. I have a new respect for the skill and precision of a regular Adelaide driver now, they are positively amazing compared to here. It’s truly hard to convey how fucked they drive, lanes, indicators, oncoming traffic, these are all things to briefly consider before moving out pretty much wherever you like on the road. People, especially kids, just walk out into the road without checking to see if a car is coming or if death is heading their way. They just drive essentially where and how they like, all the time.

I did see a physical embodiment of the term, oxymoron too. I couldn’t get a photo of it though, I saw it too late. It was a donkey drawn cart with an elderly man driving it and on the cart itself, freshly sealed computers from HP. Quite a strange mix.

As far as the local population goes, I don’t blend in. So much so that on many an occasion we have had people pull over to the side of the road, whether they be in a car, on a scooter or on a 3-wheeled tractor contraption filled with hay, just to stare at us. I don’t mind it from kids, I would expect it, they’ve probably never seen such a gwei lo before, and we really are different to them. But I’m not as tolerant from adults, they should really know better. I’ve taken to staring back at them, they don’t like that much at all. When I have drunk too much, which has been quite often in the last fortnight, I’ve taken to swearing at the ones who stare for what I deem to be too long. This, of course, is a random interval which can change at any time.

Getting back to the blueberry chips, they’re odd. I can almost taste what they were trying to achieve except they’ve still failed miserably. It’s like free climbing almost to the top of a rock face but falling to a violent, screaming death just before you get to the top.

I have other chips, snacks and drinks to try though, rest assured. I’ve had shrimp flavour, curry beef and of course, blueberry. Grilled mushroom is available and Barbacue (no, not barbeque but barbacue). There’s dozens and dozens of small, individually sealed cakes and such. I’ve got a box of what are apparently Tiramasu ones in my hotel room right now. The drinks too are fun, ranging from the normal soft drink range to some sort of iced tea’s with what appears to be jelly pieces floating in them. I haven’t drunk those ones yet but I will soon.

Ooh, and the beer. I have gone through a lot of it. I can get myself a six-pack of rice beer for about 15 Yuan, the equivalent of about $3 or $4. There’s a good range of rice wines too, I’m looking forward to bringing back some horrendous ones with me to Adelaide.

Well, I think I’ve taken up enough of your time for now, please feel free to peruse the gallery for the latest images from this city.

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