The book is picked up! (Click here for the previous issue)
After we confronted the group of Mongolian men and women for a long time, one of them on the other side broke the silence and spoke a string of Mongolian words.
Naturally, we didn't understand, so we shook our heads in confusion. Lao Feng tried to ask in English: "What do you have to do?" ”
I also greeted them in Russian.
Seeing this, one girl turned to a long list in Russian, but we still couldn't understand it.
At this time, everyone began to communicate with gestures. To be honest, Lao Feng and I didn't have a good understanding of sign language, but they kept gesturing and pointing to themselves and saying something. I guess they might be introducing their own names, because one of them had the pronunciation of "bi," which I remember being the Mongolian pronunciation of "me," and the pronunciation of "Errihe," which was the name of one of my Mongolian classmates in high school.
This stalk is actually the Mongolian "I am Zhao Jingzhong", and the Mongolian "bi" means "I".
So, I told them my name, and Lao Feng also made an introduction.
The other party nodded, followed by a long list of Mongolian and Russian, and Lao Feng and I were confused. At this time, a few old ladies surrounded us, and we felt that it was not appropriate to stay for a long time, so I kept saying "goodbye" in Russian and left with Lao Feng.
As we were leaving, I looked back and saw that the other person was still winking at us.
Taking advantage of this, the two of us quickened our pace and left without looking back.
Once we reached safety, we breathed a sigh of relief. I couldn't help but sigh: "If only I could have a translation machine with me, this miscommunication is so painful!" ”
Lao Feng said: "I believe that such a machine will appear in more than ten years, but I guess it is only those mainstream languages that can be translated, and the translation function of Mongolian and Chinese may have to be postponed." ”
Now that I think about it, Lao Feng's prophecy is really magical. Nowadays, there are good translation software on mobile phones, but the voice translation of Outer Mongolian and Chinese is still not very accurate, and it is usually necessary to translate into English before translation.
We went to a street stall and bought two more bottles of water and drank them as we walked. After wandering aimlessly, we found a place on the street that appeared to be a Chinese restaurant, there was no Chinese in front of the store, but it looked like pinyin, I remember it as "jin di fan dian".
This is the status quo of the names of most Chinese restaurants in Outer Mongolia, either in pinyin or English
When we went in, we found that it was indeed a Chinese restaurant.
Actually, we don't want to eat Chinese food, because my rule is to go to a place to taste the local food. But now that I saw the Chinese restaurant, I still feel more intimate. I remember Enkh telling us that Outer Mongolia, like Russia, does not allow places like Chinatowns, so Chinese restaurants in Outer Mongolia are considered to be a gathering place for Mongolian Chinese citizens.
Of course, the reason why Chinese characters do not appear in Chinese restaurants, Enhe also told us: except for new Mongolian, English and Russian, any foreign language must be applied, but the Outer Mongolian authorities have been specially stuck in the review of Chinese signboards.
(Note: However, I have checked the situation recently, and I can confirm that the situation in Outer Mongolia has improved somewhat, Chinese character signboards have begun to appear, and the attitude of the Outer Mongolian authorities has also relaxed.) ）
但店里的服务员都是外蒙人，和我们无法沟通。 其中一个年轻服务员尝试用蹩脚的英文与我们交流：“boss，no speak Chinese, only we，I can't speak Chinese, Russian ok?”
We shook our heads helplessly.
However, after sitting down, the waiter handed over the menu actually in Chinese, and we ordered shredded fish-flavored pork, kung pao chicken and two bowls of rice. The price is equivalent to 110 yuan, which is considered a high-end consumption in Outer Mongolia.
But it must be said that the dishes are really authentic, the cooking skills are quite good (of course, it may be that we were too hungry at the time), and the amount of food is also very large, similar to what I ate in Shandong.
However, halfway through our meal, I remembered that I hadn't taken a picture yet, so I hurriedly took a photo. Unfortunately, my photography skills were so poor that the photos were blurry.
The waiters immediately looked at us warily, and we had no choice but to give up. I have to say that in Outer Mongolia, we always encounter such problems. If there were today's camera phones, maybe we would have been able to take a lot of photos without us knowing.
To be honest, the Outer Mongolians seem to be very jealous of Chinese filming them, and I still don't understand why.
Just as we were about to leave, we suddenly heard a familiar local voice: "Two, I'm sorry, I just went out, and they told me that there are Chinese to dine." ”
We looked up and saw that it was a woman in her 30s with a nice face, an oval face, and a slightly chubby body.
At that moment, our hearts were mixed, with sourness and excitement about meeting our old acquaintances in a foreign land.
The sister introduced herself as Na Heya (her official name on her ID card is actually a Chinese name for the surname "Bao", but she herself has a nickname in Mongolian) and her hometown is Tongliao, Inner Mongolia. She came to Ulaanbaatar with her ex-husband, a restaurant owned by her uncle who worked as a lobby manager.
Seeing this situation, Lao Feng and I planned to inquire about the situation of the Chinese in Outer Mongolia.
Na Heya sighed and said, "As you can see, Chinese restaurants don't allow Chinese character plaques to be written, but writing English always feels less distinctive, so we can only write pinyin." Now this side is indeed very repulsive to the Chinese, especially the Inner Mongolians, including Mongolians like me, who are even worse treated. Because there are dialect and accent differences between Mongolian languages, although there is not as much difference as Chinese, it can still be heard.
When I first came to Mongolia, I was ridiculed by them because of my accent, saying that I was 'Sinicized'. If I call China in public and speak Chinese, I will even go home or find a safe place after hanging up, otherwise you may be beaten if you say 'hey'. ”
Chinese workers in Outer Mongolia
"Is that excessive? Let's speak English. I smiled wryly.
When Nahoya heard this, she said, "Of course you know English." Now Mongolia is actually eliminating the influence of Russia, learning English, Korean, and Japanese is a new trend, and in fact, there are many more people learning Chinese than before. Moreover, the situation is much better now (in 2010), and Mongolians are actually much friendlier. ”
(Note: It's 2024 now, and of course it's a little better than 2010).
Lao Feng said speechlessly: "Is this still called 'friendly'?" ”
So, Lao Feng told us all about the neo-Nazi threat we encountered a few days ago, as well as the unpleasant experience in the theater.
But Nahoya said, "It's much better." And you're students, you know English, you're tourists, and you don't look like workers when you dress up. The Chinese workers who come to Mongolia are still very sad. No, the day before yesterday, a worker who assisted in the construction was injured by 3 drunkards, and he didn't say a word. It was because he was dressed and was seen that he was beaten, and he was urinated on his head. When the police came, they beat him up. ”
(Anti-China demonstrations in Outer Mongolia in recent years)
The two of us looked at each other as we listened. Lao Feng said speechlessly: "This is too outrageous!" Why? There are always people who say how much the Chinese hate the Japanese, and how much the Outer Mongolians hate the Chinese. But when we went to Japan, we weren't treated like that! Did we go to Outer Mongolia to burn, kill, loot, do live experiments, and set up concentration camps like Japan? I have been to many countries, and I have really never encountered this kind of anti-China sentiment that is so strong that it is bursting. ”
Na He Ya hurriedly reassured: "Don't be impatient, don't be angry." In fact, this is all caused by the deliberate guidance of the Outer Mongolian authorities and the brainwashing and education of Lao Maozi in the past 70 years. These Mongolian people are different from the Mongolian people in Inner Mongolia, and they themselves do not want to be Chinese. With such brainwashing education, it is not normal for them not to be anti-China! It will take time to make up for this. ”
Lao Feng asked again at this time: "Then sister, why did you choose to develop here?" ”
Na Heya smiled bitterly again: "There are still opportunities here, especially since various industries are still in their infancy, and they can still make money and make a fortune." There are people who come to mine and aid construction, so there is naturally a demand for Chinese food. So, my uncle still has a business in opening this shop. Half of Mongolia's nearly 3 million people live in Ulaanbaatar. Many of them have been abroad, and Chinese food is actually very popular with some rich people and officials here, and it can make money. ”
Distribution of mineral deposits in Outer Mongolia
At this time, I asked, "Then you are developing with your husband now, what about your children?" ”
"The child will definitely not stay here. Both of my sons are now in primary school in Hohhot. As for my husband, hey, he got a Mongolian waitress here and gave birth to a son. Now she took the woman back to Inner Mongolia. Hey, no way, that's fate! He doesn't care about children. ”
The two of us didn't know what to say, so we could only be silent.
Danahaya said to herself, "Hey, it doesn't matter! There are a couple of younger ones chasing me here, but I don't like them. All of them are foolish! I also want to find a Chinese when I remarry, of course, I actually want to find a southerner, and the people over there love their wives more! Anyway, I don't look down on those local men in Ulaanbaatar, all of them are drunk and brainless and anti-China! ”
Lao Feng and I listened and continued to be silent.
Nahoya then said, "Hey, this makes you laugh! What are you doing here? It's actually quite dangerous here! ”
Lao Feng and I told her the purpose of our expedition here, our plans to go to the Outer Northeast and Outer Northwest and other Chinese homelands, and the trip to Kusugul Lake tomorrow.
Nahoya said, "Very good! Write down what you see and tell more people about it, and let everyone know what's going on here. If more people know, maybe more Chinese will know about the situation here, let them think twice before coming! ”
So the two of us said goodbye to Nahoya and prepared to go back to the hotel.
Naheya stopped us at this time and asked the waiter to bring us two bottles of drinks. She looked serious again, and said, "If you have to choose to take the car to Kusugul, you must be more careful!" I don't recommend you to take the bus! But in fact, airplanes are not much better! You can take the train to Mulun and then take the train to Khusugul! And when you get to the lake, it adds up to more than 800 kilometers, and the whole journey is a dirt road! ”
Distance from Ulaanbaatar to Mulun
But Lao Feng and I said, "We have decided to take the bus so that we can see the most scenery!" ”
Driving distance from Ulaanbaatar to Mulun
Seeing this, Na Hoya could only sigh: "Then you should be more careful!" If you have something, don't forget to call the embassy or call me! All I can say is that you are still young to dare to take such risks! ”
So we left each other's contact information.
(Note: I am very emotional when I write this, it has been almost 14 years since this incident was written, I wonder how she is now?) How's the restaurant going? A lot of things haven't been recorded, I just hope she can get better! ）
Of course, the journey to Khuvsgul Lake is even more thrilling, and it even feels close to death. In hindsight, we were indeed young and vigorous, and we were not afraid of heaven and earth! It's still scary to think about it now!
To be continued
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Wolf Skywalk VVL
A prairie man who loves adventure and cooking Western food, from time to time to share a little delicious spiritual mustard!