Alihe,Inner Mongolia

The drive from GenHe to AliHe takes about three hours. En route stop at BuSuLi Villa 20 km from AliHe AliHe is a small town. Hotels are available, but all the hotels heat hot water for showers by wood fire. This means you will have hot water about 8:30 PM at night, and maybe leftover hot water in the morning if you get up early if you are lucky. The But don't count on hot water in the mornings. The town is really small. No matter what hotel you stay in, the museum is close. Even the best hotel in ALiHe sometimes do not have hot water. They make hot water by heating the water by a fire. They are always "fixing" it. You will be comfortable in the rooms as long as you bring drinking water, adhere to the above comments, and do not take a shower if there is no hot water. The secret for hot water is to turn on the hot water and let it run a ***lONG TIME***. 30 minutes sometimes. 10 minutes may not be long enough. At night the water will be scalding. In the morning, early at 5 or 6 AM, very, very warm. At 8 AM it will be cold. The hot pot may be missing a screw. Be careful. The rooms are fine, but no a/c. To get hot water, heat water (if there is no hot water for a shower) in the hot pot, and pour it into the sink and mix in some cold water. You will then have warm water for a sponge bath and shaving. The three hour drive and hotel is worth it. The drive is beautiful. The restaurants serve mountain plants to eat. The shops are unique with Birch bark things. The museum is great. It is small, but one of the best I have seen in China. There is English. This is a very historic area. In ancient times, the XianBei culture was here during the Yuan Dynasty. They were more powerful than the Mongolians. After, Mongolians were more strong. These people migrated to Luoyang and helped carve the famous carvings there. They became Chinese. We will visit the XianBei Cave. In the mountains, the Oroqians (Elunchuns) lived in the forest. They were not strong, but were eclipsed by the XianBei. During the Japanese invasion of China, the Oroqian people helped the Chinese as they were expert with guns and archery. The Oroqian are now totally gone from the mountains. They are absorbed into the cities. From the town is a 45 to 60 minute drive to Lost Valley. Not too much to see other than virgin forest. At the end is a colorful restaurant with many kinds of meats. A dish of deer meat is Rmb 88. Lots of Horse flies, though. Bring insect repellant. Sorry. There are various spellings of these people. Elunchun, Orochun, Oroqian, are all correct. Updated 6/27/2008