fu-berlin.de!fub46.fddi1.fu-berlin.DE!not-for-mail contacts) X-Access: 16 17 19 Questions (and their answers) about Mongolia, Mon- golians and the areas where Mongolian-speaking people live. Archive-name: mongolia-faq URL: gopher://gate1.zedat.fu-berlin.de/00/mongolei/mongfaq.unx Anyone wishing to contribute to or improve this document should not hesitate to send the edited part(s) to me, i.e. Oliver Corff, corff@zedat.fu-berlin.de or infomong@zedat.fu-berlin.de Thanks to Christopher Kaplonski, Peter Crandall, Mingan Choct, Ariunaa, Peter Lofting, Ken Beesley, Wolfgang Lipp, Noreen Palazzo, Solongowa Borzigin, Purevdorj and all others who have contributed by submitting facts, corrections or suggestions on what to include. soc.culture.mongolian FAQ Version 1.4 (July, 1995) ======================================================== Table of Contents: ================== INTRODUCTORY NOTES 1) How can I get a copy of this Frequently Asked Questions list? 2) Are there any other sources of information on Mongolia in the Internet? 3) Is there an Internet or e-mail link to Mongolia? 4) Is there an IDD (International Direct Dialing) telephone link to Mongolia? MONGOLIA - LAND & PEOPLE 5) Where do Mongolians live? 6) Who speaks Mongolian? 7) What kind of a language is Mongolian? 8) Is Mongolian easy to learn? MONGOLIA - ADMINISTRATIVE 9) I want to study in Mongolia. Where do I establish con- tact? 10) I wan to work in Mongolia, e.g. teach a foreign language. Where do I establish first contact? 11) I want to study in Inner Mongolia. Where do I establish contact? 12) I want to work in Inner Mongolia, e.g. teach a foreign language. Where do I establish contact? 13) I want to travel to Mongolia. What kind of travel documentation do I need? 14) I want to travel to Inner Mongolia. What kind of travel documentation do I need? 15) I want to travel to Buryatia. What kind of travel documentation do I need? 16) I want to travel to Kalmykia. What kind of travel documentation do I need? 17) Where is the nearest embassy/consulate of Mongolia? MONGOLIA - TOURISM 18) How to travel to Mongolia? 19) What kind of accommodation is available in Mongolia? 20) What kind of transport is available in Mongolia? 21) Which season is recommended for travelling? INNER MONGOLIA - TOURISM 22) How to travel to Inner Mongolia? 23) What kind of accommodation is available in Inner Mongolia? 24) What kind of transport is available in Inner Mongolia? 25) Which season is recommended for travelling? MONGOLIA - MISCELLANEOUS 26) Are there computer programs for processing Mongolian language documents? MONGOLIA - SUGGESTED READINGS 27) Which book do you recommend as a start? INTRODUCTORY NOTES 1) How can I get a copy of this Frequently Asked Questions list? You are holding a copy of this document in your working memory! Save it now. A copy of this document is always kept in Infosystem Mongolei (see below). 2) Are there any other sources of information on Mongolia in the Internet? Yes and No. First the No. There is a number of miscel- laneous documents (mainly U.S. government publications) on Mongolia available on the Internet. These documents (not much more than a handful of files) are partially outdated, difficult to find and frequently available on various mirrored sites increasing the confusion. Now the first Yes. In spring 1994, the USENET newsgroup soc.culture.mongolian came into existence. It enjoys a certain popularity, not only among Mongolia specialists but also among other interested persons. This newsgroup (which is not moderated) offers lively discussions on all sorts of topics ranging from food to religion, from history to modern politics. Many frequent contributors supply soc.culture.mongolian also with news about cur- rent events, exhibitions etc. In order to read the news of soc.culture.mongolian, start any of the news readers available on your machine (this may be tin, rn, nn, or any other favourite). Fol- lowing the instructions, it should not be too difficult to subscribe to soc.culture.mongolian since this is a mainstream USENET newsgroup which should be available at any Internet site featuring USENET services. Now the second Yes. The Mongolia Society in Bloomington established a WWW home page recently. Of course, the WWW homepage gives information about the Mongolia Society and its activities but it also bundles a number of Mongolia-related Internet documents, namely references to other WWW home pages on Mongolia and Tuva, gopher servers and single documents. The pointers to other URLs are very up-to-date. The Mongolia Society URL is: http://www.bluemarble.net/~mitch/monsoc.html Now the third Yes. There is one gopher server offering dedicated information on Mongolia. It is located at Free University, Berlin, Germany, and can be reached via: gopher gopher.fu-berlin.de This gopher server offers the "Infosystem Mongolei" featuring a small but growing collection of articles, maps, legal documents and software related to Mongolia. It contains also a list of pointers to other Internet documents on Mongolia which is frequently updated. Browsing these pointers is much more convenient than running multiple VERONICA searches. If you encounter difficulties in connecting to "Infosystem Mongolei" you can e-mail to: infomong@zedat.fu-berlin.de or corff@zedat.fu-berlin.de and request a description of the access procedure. A WWW (World Wide Web) address is in preparation and the docu- ments of Infosystem Mongolei will be made available for WWW browsers like Mosaic etc. The official opening of the WWW home page for Infosystem Mongolei should not be expected before August 1995. 3) Is there an Internet or e-mail link to Mongolia? Yes, there is now the first e-mail link to Mongolia. It came into existence in January/February 1995 and is not yet a continuous (i.e. 24 h/day) operation but it seems to work. It is organized by a commercial service provider, Datacom Co., Ltd. Mongolia. The address is: bataa@magicnet.mn and requests to this address will most certainly be ans- wered by Bataa, the system operator. There are various types of service charges. First, one has to open an ac- count which is between US$ 20.-- and US$ 100.-- depend- ing on whether one is a private or an institutional user. Then there is a monthly charge (starting with US$ 5.-- / month), and in addition there is a volume charge for every kB of data which is 30 cents. Despite these various charges, the operation via e-mail is by far the cheapest because fax and DX telephone costs are tremendous. In addition, the Academy of Sciences has its own connec- tion now (UUCP) to the Internet via Dubna, Russia. There is no public e-mail link to Inner Mongolia at present. At present it is also not known whether Buryatia can be reached via e-mail. 4) Is there an IDD (International Direct Dialing) telephone link to Mongolia? Yes, there is the possibility to place IDD (Interna- tional Direct Dialing) telephone calls to Mongolia. The country code is ++976, the area code for Ulaanbaatar is 1. At present the telephone system in Ulaanbaatar is un- der reconstruction which implies that certain numbers are changed. Ulaanbaatar used to have 5-digit telephone numbers until 1992. Those numbers which then began with a 2 are usually converted by placing a 3 in front of the leading digit. Other numbers were changed later. Some numbers still retain the 5-digit order. Inner Mongolia can be reached via China. The country code is 86, the area code for Huhhot is (0)471 (skip the leading 0 when dialing from abroad). Buryatia can be reached via Russia. The country code is ++7 but there are two city codes for Ulan Ude: 3012 for 6-digit telephone numbers, 30122 for 5-digit telephone numbers. MONGOLIA - LAND & PEOPLE 5) Where do Mongolians live? Mongolians live in: 1) Mongolia proper, the huge, land-locked country between China and the Siberian part of the Russian Federation 2) Southern Mongolia, or Inner Mongol Autonomous Region which politically belongs to China. 3) Buryatia, direct north of Mongolia proper, south and south-east of Lake Baikal. 5) An important number of Mongols who are known as Kalmycks live in Russia. 6) A significant number of Mongolians live dispersed in other Chinese provinces. Some of them form their own nationalities, e.g. the Dagurs. 7) Small communities of Mongols named Moghols live in Afghanistan. 8) There is also a worldwide somewhat scattered community of Mongol scholars, students and professionals living in many countries from [A]merica to New [Z]ealand. About 500 or more Mongols live in Germany. Many of them came to Germany during the existence of the German Democratic Republic which is now united with the Federal Republic of Germany. 6) Who speaks Mongolian? Virtually all citizens of Mongolia proper speak Mongo- lian. Some do not because they are either of Kazakh or other ethnic origin. Not all ethnic Mongols in Southern Mongolia do speak Mongol, many of them have switched to Chinese. Similar phenomena can be observed in Buryatia where many inhabitants speak Russian. The minor com- munities scattered over China and Afghanistan speak some very old varieties of Mongolian which have developed into proper languages in their own right. Some of these languages are not well documented. The Kalmycks speak a form of Mongolian known as Kalmyck which even developed its own modified form of writing. 7) What kind of a language is Mongolian? Mongolian belongs to the Altaic family of languages showing structural (and partially lexical) similarities with languages of the Tungusic group of this family (e.g. Manju) and the Turkic group of this family (e.g. Turkish). Mongolian has strong vowel harmony: all vowels within one word and even all grammatical particles must be chosen from one of two vowel sets which are known as male and female or back and front vowels. Mongolian has a total of seven short vowels. There are also seven long vowels. The distinction between short and long vowels is essential as it alters the meaning: [tos] is "grease, oil" while [toos] is "dust". Besides simple short and long vowels there are also diphtongs which have duration values similar to long vowels. The stress is usually put on the first syllable if all syll- ables of a word are short; otherwise the stress is put on the first syllable carrying a long vowel. The set of consonants has many constraints: [r] may not occur at the beginning of a word. [f] only occurs in foreign loans and is frequently converted to [p]. [w] and [b] though phonetically different do not form an opposition on the phonological level. The same holds true for [c] and [q] ([c] as [ts]ar, [q] as [ch]ill) as well as [j] (as in [j]eep) and [z] (best described as fairly un- voiced [ds]). Both pairs are expressed by the same sym- bol in Classical writing and the development of dif- ferent phonetical realisations is mainly due to vowel environment and dialect situation. The consonants [k] and [g] are linked to vowel harmony. In words containing back vowels, [k] changes to [x] and [g] becomes [G] (a voiced glottal affricate). Beginners frequently confuse the latter with something like a French [r]. The grammar is fairly simple: all predicates are put at the end of the sentence resulting in a S.O.P. (subject - object - predicate) structure. There are no subordinate clauses in the sense of Indo-European languages. At- tributes are placed in front of the denominated entity. Indo-European style subordinate clauses (Relativsatz, etc.) are resolved as attribute constructions. Verbs can be collated to form new meanings or expand or intensify the meaning of the main verb. Verbs occur in two dis- tinct categories: 1) the "genuine" or finite verb forms finish phrases, serve as predicates and can be compared to ordinary verbs of Indo-European languages; 2) all other verb forms, be they converbs (modifiers of other verbs), verbal nouns (usually translated as verbs but with the complete behaviour of nouns like the ability to form oblique cases) or the equivalents to participles and gerundial forms cannot be used to finish phrases. As a rule of thumb, a Mongolian phrase usually has numerous occurrences of verbs of the second class but only one finite verb at the end of the phrase. As an exception to this rule of thumb, under certain circumstances phrases may also end with a verbal noun as predicate. All gram- matical functions and relations are expressed by suf- fixes which are "glued" to the end of a root be it noun or verb hence the term "agglutinative language". More than one suffix can be attached to a word: e.g. [teesh] "bag"; [teeshees] "out of the bag"; [teesheesee] "out of his/her bag"); [bolgoomj] "care"; [bolgoomjtoi] "with care" -> careful (as adjective); [bolgoomjtoigoor] "ac- ting with care" -> doing something carefully (as ad- verb). Mongolian writing is a fairly complex topic. The tradi- tional Mongolian script is written in vertical lines from left to right, very much like an Arab page turned counter-clockwise by 90 degrees. Though this script (called Uighur script because the Uighurs had used it first) has been the main vehicle of written Mongolian, a number of other writing systems have been and are being employed. In 1940, The then Mongolian People's Republic started using a modified Cyrillic alphabet (extended by two vowel symbols, [_o] and [_u], the female counter- parts of [o] and [u]. In the beginning of the 1990's, Mongolia was considering the return to the Classical script despite the heavy financial and social cost: New schoolbooks had to be compiled and many adults who were born after 1940 must now learn a completely different writing system which does not only look different but which also represents a different historical development stage of the Mongolian language. A law was passed to the effect that from 1994 on Mongolian Classical script be the official writing of Mongolia again but one year after this magic date nothing really changed substan- tially. ·_ The repetitive nature of similar endings has strongly influenced traditional lyrics which uses line allitera- tions and line-internal alliterations as a main element for structuring versed speech. The emphasized beginnings of words thus form a healthy offset to the grammatical suffices. 8) Is Mongolian easy to learn? From the introduction about the Mongolian language we can draw the following conclusions on whether Mongolian is or is not easy to learn. Since it is an SOP language its grammar may pose problems to speakers of most European languages and Chinese. It should however be much easier for learners with a background in Japanese, Korean, Turkish, Manchu or similar languages. Since the assumptions on word classes ('parts of speech') sometimes differs thoroughly from most Indo- European languages, problems may arise in this field (When does an "adjective" need declension? Is it really what we call an adjective?). The pronounciation does not pose enourmous difficulties. Although there are no completely unfamiliar sounds for speakers of most other languages tutoring is strongly recommended during the initial phase of acquiring phonetics and phonology. The Classical writing system should be learned under a teacher's or tutor's guidance - it is sometimes a bit tricky to master it on one's own. The number of language training materials is not over- whelming, dictionaries are only available for a few languages (notably Russian, Chinese and English; but also German and Japanese. See the document by Christopher Kaplonski and Oliver Corff: SROMDIC - Sug- gested Readings on Mongolia - Dictionaries in Infosystem Mongolei) The final key to success is practice, practice, prac- tice. Expose yourself to as much printed and audio material as possible. MONGOLIA - ADMINISTRATIVE 9) I want to study in Mongolia. Where do I establish con- tact? Contact your university. They may already have an ex- change program with Mongolia without your knowledge. If this fails, contact your national academic exchange ser- vice (e.g. the DAAD in Germany or the JFPS in Japan). 10) I want to work in Mongolia, e.g. teach a foreign language. Where do I establish first contact? Here as above it is recommended to contact your univ- ersity or your national academic exchange service. 11) I want to study in Inner Mongolia. Where do I establish contact? The answer here is the same as above. Only one dif- ference must be observed: Politically being a part of China, all programs dealing with Inner Mongolia are usually in the Chinese section or department. 12) I want to work in Inner Mongolia, e.g. teach a foreign language. Where do I establish contact? The answer here is the same as above. Only one dif- ference must be observed: Politically being a part of China, all programs dealing with Inner Mongolia are usually kept in the Chinese section or department of the exchange organization or university. 13) I want to travel to Mongolia. What kind of travel documentation do I need? You must obtain a visa at a Mongolian embassy or consu- late. (See below for a list of embassies / consulates). In order to obtain a visa you must produce an invitation issued by a) a Mongolian private person or b) a Mongo- lian institution. This may be a university. Once you have entered Mongolia various regulations on registering with police may apply depending on the length and nature of your stay. Ask your Mongolian embassy when receiving the visa. 14) I want to travel to Inner Mongolia. What kind of travel documentation do I need? You need a visa issued by the authorities of the People's Republic of China. Once in China (and Inner Mongolia) you'll be requested to register at a hotel etc. by using the forms available there. Various other procedures may apply depending on length and nature of your stay. 15) I want to travel to Buryatia. What kind of travel documentation do I need? You need a visa issued by the authorities of the Russian Federation. Contact your local (former USSR) embassy. 16) I want to travel to Kalmykia. What kind of travel documentation do I need? You need a visa issued by the authorities of the Russian Federation. See above. 17) Where is the nearest embassy / consulate of Mongolia? There are not so many Mongolian embassies and consu- lates. Most of them are accredited for several countries. The following list is very incomplete and remains to be completed with the readers' help. Since it is helpful to use a travel agency's services when applying for a visa this list contains also some information about travel agents. * Embassies and Honorary Consuls by country * Mongolian Embassy in Australia There is no embassy in Australia. Australia is covered by the Mongolian Embassy in China, Beijing. Honorary Consul in Austria Mr. Johannes Stiedl Anhofstr. 65-67 A-1130 Wien Tel.: ++ 43 1 877 3353 1724 5661 Mongolian Embassy in China No. 2 Xiu Shui Bei Jie Jian Guo Men Wai District Beijing Tel.: 1 532 1203 Fax : 1 532 5045 Mongolian Embassy in France 5, Av. R. Schuman Boulogne Mongolian Embassy in Germany Siebengebirgsblick 4 53844 Troisdorf Tel.: 02241-402727 Aussenstelle der Mongolischen Botschaft in Berlin Gotlandstr. 12 10439 Berlin Tel.: 030-4469320 21 Honorary Consul in Hong Kong Mr. Kwok Shiu Ming 4 Sommerset Toad, Kowloon Hong Kong Tel.: ++ 852 338 9034 Fax : ++ 852 338 0633 Honorary Consul in Italy Mr. Aldo Colleoni viale XX Settembre, 37 34126 Trieste Tel.: 040-362241 Fax 040-363494 telex 461138 CONMON1. Mongolian Embassy in Japan Pine Crest Mansion 21-4, Kamiyamacho Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150 Tel.: 03-3469-2088 Mongolian Embassy in New Zealand New Zealand Embassy and Ambassador in Beijing are credited for NZ foreign affairs to Mongolia, while Mongolian embassies in Tokyo or Beijing handle matters between Mongolia and NZ. See China. Mongolian Embassy in the United Kingdom 7 Kensington Court LONDON W8 5DL Tel: (0171) 937 5238 Tel: (0171) 937 0150 Mongolian Embassy in the USA 2833 M Street, NW Washington, DC Tel: 202-333-7117 Honorary Consul in Switzerland: Stephan Bischofberger P.O.Box 173 Limmatstr. 35 8005 Zuerich Fax : ++ 1 272 7924 Tel.: ++ 1 272 4005 According to the Swiss telephone directory ETV, Mr. Bischofberger seems to be in charge of a travel agency named 'Discovery Tours'. * Travel Agents * 'Mongolian Tourism Corporation of America' A joint venture between Zhuulchin and an American travel agency. Princeton Corporate Plaza 1 Deer Park Drive, Suite M Monmouth Junction, NJ 08852 Tel.: ++ 1 908-274-0088 NOMADIC EXPEDITIONS (This one seems to have contact with Zhuulchin, too) Princeton Corporate Center 5 Independence Way, Suite 300 Princeton, NJ 08540 BOOJUM Expeditions 14543 Kelly Canyon Road Bozeman, MT 59715 USA Tel.: 406-587-0124 Fax : 406-585-3474 Boojum@delphi.com Beyond the range of the official state travel agency Zhuulchin there are now numerous private agencies operating in Mongolia. Their addresses are occasionally hard to come by but it is hoped that this list can be enlarged during winter as to leave enough time to prepare next summer's travel to Mongolia. MONGOLIA - TOURISM 18) How to travel to Mongolia? The principal ways to Mongolia are by train and by air. The capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, is connected via the Transmongolian Railway to China and Buryatia. In Ulan Ude, capital of Buryatia, the Transsiberian Railway (leading to the Russian Far East, Khabaravosk, Nakhodka etc.) connects to the Transmongolian Railway. Trains from Moscow to Beijing run once a week in each direction and take about five days for the whole trip. There are also 'local trains' between Irkutsk (Erkhuud) and Ulaanbaatar which take about 24 hours one way. Similar local trains run between Ulaanbaatar and Bei- jing. Since the Transmongolian Railway sports only one track this is a bottleneck for railway traffic which results in these one train/week schedules. Prices for train tickets vary between US$ 200 and US$500. It is not possible to state any exact amount because prices fluctuate, the currency exchange rates vary daily and pricing policies create different price tags depending on where the tickets are purchased. The second feasible way to enter Mongolia is by air. Air transport is available between Buyant Uxaa (the interna- tional airport of Ulaanbaatar) and Beijing as well as Irkutsk, the latter with a weekly connect flight to Mos- cow (or should I say, it's a weekly flight to Moscow with a stop-over in Irkutsk?). These lines are served throughout the whole year. In summer, there are addi- tional flights to Huhhot (Inner Mongolia) and Japan. There are about four international passenger flights per week connecting Ulaanbaatar and the rest of the world. Links to other Central Asian regions are under con- sideration or offered on a seasonal basis such as a flight between Almaty / Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Only the prices on the Ulaanbaatar / Beijing route are fairly constant: around US$ 150.-- for a one-way ticket. For all other destinations there are wildly varying ticket prices depending on where the ticket is bought and whether the client is entitled to special reductions (like being an official student at the Mongolian Na- tional University). 19) What kind of accommodation is available in Mongolia? In Ulaanbaatar there are some big hotels. One of them is a monument to Soviet-style luxury and lavishness: The Ulaanbaatar Zoqid Buudal. Located next to the central square, it is ideal for travellers with a not so restricted budget. Price tags start at US$ 60.- (or so) and the two dining rooms are frequenty used by external guests when every other supply of food in Ulaanbaatar collapses. The next important hotel (near the Bogd Gegen Palace) is the Bayangol which was thoroughly revamped in 1992. Similar standard. The Chinggis Khan Hotel near Sansar (a district name in Ulaanbaatar) has been "due to open soon" since 1991 but did apparently not manage to do so. It is still "under construction" and was temporarily managed by the Holiday Inn group, a Korean group (Lotte, I think) and will continue to strech its red and black granite facade into the blue sky for the next years to come ... ? Small hotels for the traveller with a tight budget in- clude the "Stroitel" (Russian: construction worker) which is north of the Ix Toirog (Great Ring) Road close to the smaller monastery. A Mongolian-Chinese joint ven- ture is the "Manduhai" hotel near the Ix Delguur (Department Store). Clean rooms, simple furniture, but nice atmosphere and acceptable price tag. Other private hotels keep opening with the rise of the private sector. These offer similar prices (sometimes starting with US$ 10.-- / day for a complete little flat) but the situa- tions keeps changing so it is difficult to give names and addresses here. In the countryside the situation looks different. In the tourist spots there are ger camps with a complete in- frastructure (restaurant gers, shower facilities etc.) and they are quite convenient because they ensure a min- imum of reliability for the traveller. Once leaving the tourist paths the situation again looks different. It is possible to ask at people's homes (= gers) but one may be turned away (already too many people staying there). Prepare for a long demarche to the "neighbour" (maybe 50 or 100 kilometers (30 to 60 miles). Never, never forget to bring a reasonably useful and valuable gift. When staying at somebody's home then stick to the following minimal rules regardless how friendly people may appear to you: 1) Check carefully whether your potential host is capable at all of accommodating another guest. In order to find out, you can check for the number of family members, the situation of the animals, etc. 2) Never stay longer than one day. 3) Never refuse ceremonial offerings of tea even if it salty, etc. 4) Roll down the sleeves of your shirt/coat no matter which temperature it is. If it is summer and you (and Mongolians) wear a t-shirt, then pretend to roll down your sleeves symbolically when being offered food and drink. 5) Never accept any offering of food, drink etc. with your left hand. Both hands is best. 6) If there is only a well, not a river nearby, never abuse it as a bathtub. Water in general and wells in particular are precious in this country. 7) When bringing your own food or drink never forget to offer it to everybody. Never attempt to munch your biscuits secretely. If you can't resist eating your own biscuits then wait until you are on the road again. 8) Perhaps last in this list, but not least: ·_ Show due respect to the dogs and animals of your host. The dog will only respect you if advised by his master to do so. Mongolian dogs are no pets! 20) What kind of transport is available in Mongolia? "In UB, you can walk, ride the bus, or flag done a private vehicle and negotiate a price. No taxis. I was fairly insulated from that, as my cousin has a car. But I did a lot of walking anyway, because I like to walk and the city is a convenient one to walk in. Most of the hotels are near the center of the city, as are many of the sights. The exception is the big market, which runs on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays - it's a bit of a hike from downtown." - Quoted from Peter Crandall's Mongolia Travelogue. Besides that, Ulaanbaatar sports numerous public bus lines which are usually more than crowded but offer about the cheapest rides in the world. Travelling to the country requires going by MIAT, the national air line carrier, or renting a jeep. MIAT flights are fairly irregular (usually only once a week per direction) and may be cancelled completely for lack of gasoline. It may happen that you take a flight to Uws and cannot return for 8 weeks. Renting a jeep is fairly inexpensive and usually includes a driver who is indis- pensable because this man usually knows the way in the endless steppe. He also has the technical skill to cross rivers, sand dunes etc. A "Camel Trophy" - commercial- like driving style may ruin vehicle and passengers. In the areas closer to Ulaanbaatar (within a 500-km or 300 miles range) there are busses available. Their departure takes place in front of the Museum of Fine Arts downtown Ulaanbaatar. 21) Which season is recommended for travelling? Summer is beautiful but short. Winter is not recommended if you go beyond Ulaanbaatar. Road conditions, living conditions, nutrition and everything becomes too scarce. A good start is in May. It is still cold but the over- whelming beauty of spring, the mild fragrance of blos- soms and the fresh smell of water offer experiences which one will never forget. INNER MONGOLIA - TOURISM 22) How to travel to Inner Mongolia? Inner Mongolia can be reached by train and by aircraft. The Transmongolian Railway which leads from Beijing via Ulaanbaatar to Ulan Ude crosses the Mongolian-Chinese border at Erenhot (Erlian[haote]) / China and Zamyn _Uud / Mongolia. North of Datong it connects to the Chinese Railway, Inner Mongolian branch leading to Baotou and eventually to Ningxia and Gansu which implies that one can also travel to Inner Mongolia when coming from Lanzhou and Yinchuan. It takes about 10 hours to travel from Beijing to Huhhot and the night train which leaves Beijing in the evening is very convenient as one arrives at Huhhot early in the next morning. Trains go on a regular basis (usually every day, sometimes every second day depending on the line) and are fairly reliable. Prices are reliable, too, but the foreign traveller is forced to pay about twice as much as the Chinese citizen. Due to frequent depreciation of the Chinese Yuan no fixed number can be given here but a one-way trip (second class sleeper) from Beijing to Huhhot should be around US$ 40.--. Flights between Huhhot and Beijing go several times a week and last less than one hour. The ticket prices are not very much higher than those of the railway (con- sidering prices for foreigners). Other destinations in Inner Mongolia are also served from Beijing. Up-to-date information on schedules should be available at travel agencies dealing China Airlines tickets. 23) What kind of accommodation is available in Inner Mongolia? The traveller's situation is governed by more rules here than in Mongolia. Basically, when staying in the cities (like Huhhot etc.) the traveller has no choice but to stay in huge hotels. In the countryside the situation is similar to that in Mongolia but is more difficult to get to the countryside. 24) What kind of transport is available in Inner Mongolia? In addition to railway (from and to Beijing, Huhhot, Baotou, Hailar etc.) there are flights betwen regional centres and long-distance busses within the regions. For local excursions you can also rent cars with drivers. 25) Which season is recommended for travelling? See No. 18) above. MONGOLIA - MISCELLANEOUS 26) Are there computer programs for processing Mongolian language documents? Yes, there are. These programs can be roughly classified as follows: Layout software for Classical Mongolian produced at In- ner Mongolia University for MSDOS and UNIX platforms. Maybe this is the most complete package one can dream of since it supports everything from different writing styles (Ulaanbaatar vs. Inner Mongol typeface) to dif- ferent alphabets (including Oirat, Phags-ba etc.) Availability: Yes, but with a high price tag in the four-digit US$ range. Windows Software by American and German producers. These are usually only font sets which are sold in combination with some exotic text processing software. Does not of- fer full support for correct conversion of text data, etc. "Cyrillic only" products for enhancing MSDOS platforms are available at little or no cost in Mongolia. These include printer drivers, screen fonts and keyboard map- pers for the extended Cyrillic alphabet. Around three or four different encodings are known under the following program names: NCC, MOSLAST, SUNCHIR and MONKEGA. No commercial code converters available, no support for Classical Mongolian. Research-type programs for MacIntosh machines, produced by the Universit'e de Nanterre but never made publicly available. One classical font is offered by Ecological Linguistics for Mac systems. A commercial font package is available for extended Cyrillic by Linguist's Software for both the Mac and PC worlds. MLS - Mongolian Language Support. Originallly developed for IBM compatible PCs, now extended to the Unix world. Availability: free. See the software section of In- fosystem Mongolei. MLS is a MSDOS enhancement featuring support for both Classical and Cyrillic Mongolian. It offers conversion modules, a viewer for text with verti- cal lines and allows the continued use of (text mode) applications like dBASE, spreadsheets and text process- ing packages. Windows support is currently under development. Besides the MLS package itself there is the above-mentioned Mongolian text viewer (MVIEW) with on- line conversion from transliteration to Mongol script and a converter from Mongol text to graphics (MLS2PCX) which generates graphics files out of Mongolian language texts. The free packages do not yet contain printer sup- port which is overly due and can be expected soon (says the author of MLS). MONGOLIA - SUGGESTED READINGS 27) Which book do you recommend as a start? A dedicated document by Christopher Kaplonski - SROM - Suggested Readings on Mongolia - is available at "In- fosystem Mongolei". This document is occasionally up- dated and gets posted to the USENET newsgroup soc.culture.mongolian. A second document (SROMDIC - Sug- gested Readings on Mongolia - Dictionaries) by Christopher Kaplonski and Oliver Corff at the same loca- tion reveals information about commonly used dic- tionaries. -- Dr. Oliver Corff e-mail: corff@zedat.fu-berlin.de Heinrich-Roller-Str. 26 telephone: ++ 49 - 30 - 312 34 54 10405 Berlin GERMANY