There's a saying amongst Mongolians that "The nomad is born in the saddle," and if you want to see how true that is, ust go to the Inner Mongolia Horse Race Course, it's the biggest of its kind in all of China. There you'll witness children
as young as five, all of them
expert riders, racing their mounts around a track housed in two enormous Mongolian yurts attached to each other to form an elongated stadium. Seeing its most frenzied use during
Naadam (the three manly games festival) the race course is also the venue for Mongolian wrestling competitions, displays of horsemanship and even dancing. If you have any spare time during your stay in Hohhot, this would be a good place to drop by, or you can enquire about scheduled events at a hotel or travel agent. If you'd like to experience Naadam, which is an event that goes back thousands of years, you'll want to come through between late July and early August.
