Gentrifying the Grassland

The video shows a group of Han Chinese workers from Shanxi province working on the Ten Complete Covers project in Bayan Nurgan. As they said, they are painting all the herders' houses located along the main road in the government designated white and yellow colours. The project will complete painting the entire village within three months by a team of 60 workers who are paid by the local government.Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwi

Felt embroidery

Adiya is a felt embroidery specialist. She commenced her work after they sold domestic animals and settled down in the township centre. In July 2015, Adiya mobilised her relatives to make a series of felt products, a work receiving strong encouragement from the local cultural bureau. A documentary has been made about her work and products. Even though she has many followers, she laments that her children are not interested in embroidery.Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwi

Miscellaneous Information About Bayan Nurgan

Togoji came to Inner Mongolia from Mongolia in 1932 at the age of 5 with her two sisters and in 1949 she moved to Bayan Nurgan. In this video, she and her son mostly talk about herding life in Bayan Nurgan. They herd about 70 camels and 300 goats, the upper limit allowed by the government. Now they have about 20,000 mu land, but due to drought they have to buy extra hay and other animal feed from Han Chinese. As she said, Mongols in Bayan Nurgan are mostly herders but they have bought apartments in the town centre. Some Mongols have moved to the banner centre to take care of their grandchildren or for health reasons.Their house on the farm is in the process of refurbishment as part of the so-called “Ten Complete Covers” programme initiated by the Inner Mongolian government. They have to pay about 30,000 yuan for it and the rest will be covered by the government.Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwi

Ecological Problems of Ejnee

Galsanpuntsug says that the Qing court originally permitted the Ejine Torghuts to live in a place called Anxi Gobi outside of the Jiayuguan Pass. Repeatedly, however, the Ejine Torghuts tried to return to Kalmykia but the Qing dynasty held Arabjur as a hostage. Caught between the Jungar Khanate and the Qing dynasty, some Torghuts, such as Mergen Tsorj, a commander under Danzan Noyan, joined the Jungar Khanate against the Qing dynasty while they were in Gasin Aman. Danzan then parted company with Mergen Tsorj and moved to Shar Tal with permission from the Qing. The Ejine Torghuts made their final migration in 1958 when the Chinese army took their land for military use. That winter, hundreds of military trucks were sent in to ship Torghut herders deep into the Gobi desert. A new banner centre was built at the Dalaihöv town. They have been suffering from ecological problems ever since.Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwi

Urtin Duu (Long Song) Singer Uranchimig

Uranchimig, born in Hejing in 1945, used to teach in a high school and is now a singer of long songs (urtiin duuchin). When she was young, she learned to sing many songs from good singers at weddings and other social events. 23 songs which she recorded before her retirement are often broadcasted on the Xinjiang Mongolian Radio. As she explains, during the Cultural Revolution, singing urtiin duu was taboo, and producing a record was one of the bravest things she had ever done in her life. In 1984, she recorded 2 of her famous songs called “Hongesin Ündür Shuurai” and “Zürhün Hoogin Ehin” which are still well known amongst Mongolians in Xinjiang. Since then, she and her sisters have been performing at public social events such as the Maidar.Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwi

A Torghut Shaman

Batbold was a local herder for many years before he became a visionary. Asserting that his ability to predict came down from the sky, he says that one day when he was herding goats on the mountains in Balgantai, white, blue and red lights appeared in front of him and he played with these lights the entire afternoon. Unfortunately, two days later he became disabled as he lost one of his arms and a leg. A local lama told him that he entered a space that wasn’t suitable for ordinary people. The lama also said that he would be a good fortune teller after he reached 40. Currently, he is 45 years old and locals call him Shaman.The shaman has a unique pack that contains 41 stone balls, two pairs of chopsticks, 41 corn niblets, and multiple prayer beads. He uses these tools while looking at people’s palms to tell their future. He also uses the 41 corn niblets to locate lost animals. There was a time when he tried to tell fortunes at nighttime but failed. As he says, the best time for fortune-telling is between 7 am and 1 pm.Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwi

Fire Worship

“Fire worship” is one of the annual religious rituals amongst Torghuts in Hobogsair. Torghut herders pray for protection and wealth from the fire deity by sacrificing a female sheep or goat with its foetus. As shown in this video, Namjil passes down the tradition to his son Dorji and let him prostrate front of the fire during the course of this ritual. For the occasion, Namjil invited most of his closest relatives to help assemble a yurt, participate in the ritual and share the propitious luck.The sheep for the ritual has to be white and female that must be slaughtered in the traditional way. As Namjil says, a proper fire worship ritual requires two sheep, one exclusively for sacrifice, and the other for the consumption of people who attend the ritual. During the ritual, Namjil beckons auspicious luck for themselves, their domestic animals and even their dogs.Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwi

Counting sheep

Sükhe, a Torghut herder in Bayanbulag, counts his sheep by letting them run on the rocky hills. Locals call these rocky hills the Snakehead Hill (Mogoi Tolgoi). As sheep and goats are in their robust condition in summer, there need to be some barriers, such as natural rocks shown in the video, to regulate them into a stream for counting. Sükhe says that August to September are an important period when they sell their domestic animals and get their annual income before the arrival of winter.Sükhe has 200 sheep and herds an additional 200 female sheep for another family at the cost of 100 lambs as his income per year. For this job, he hires a herder to whom he pays 60 lambs for his service. On average, 8 lambs will be deducted from the 60 lambs, which are lost due to various causes, such as wolf attack and disease. Therefore, in theory, Sükhe’s annual incomes totals about 240 lambs.Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwi