Fueled on coffee, suutei tsai (milk tea), and warmed up buuz (Mongolian dumplings), from there it was straight to the places I had been dreaming of visiting over the last several weeks.

Chinese New Year arrived, the festive atmosphere in the Hetao Irrigation Area, located in Bayannur, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, was so vibrant that I could feel the joy in the air ...