We've passed different kinds of steppe like the artimisia and the allium steppes. We wanted to visit the dinosaur remains and the Flaming Cliff at Bayanzag, but had to wait until a sandstorm had passed. We learnt children's plays with bones. And after the storm had passed we could visit Bayanzag.
It has been been a small, local sandstorm, which might come from spring until autumn. The bigger ones, which start more in the Chinese Inner Mongolia area, might effect air traffic, much like the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull (Iceland) in 2010. My Chinese teacher [1] has been a native of Tianjin (天津市) and she recalled that during her childhood they had to dust the windowsills every day because of the fine dust coming from the Mongolian dessert. China has seen more effects of sandstorms because of deforestation, but measures were taken to reduce the impact and duration of sandstorms (since 1978!) [2].
We've spent about half an hour or an hour in one of the larger gers and learnt how to play with the bones. Actually one uses the knucklebone or talus of sheep or goats, which is called shagai (шагай) [3]. There are differents games and even tournaments at the Naadam Festival. The shagai are also used for divination. UNESCO has added the shagai to the intangible cultural heritage.
Links and Annotations:
[1] I've mentioned her (with a picture) in my blogpost „Studying Chinese in Taiwan“: https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2017/02/studying-chinese-in-taiwan.html
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_East_Asia_sandstorm
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shagai "Your heel bone connected to your ankle bone" from Dem Bones or Dry Bones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dem_Bones
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