From Far East to East #03 - "At The Border"

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Dinspre est către est จากทิศตะวันออกถึงตะวันออก From Far East to East 동쪽에서 동쪽으로 Зүүн зүгээс зүүн хойд зүгт De l’est vers l’est 从东到东 С Востока на Восток

Mâncare.Natură.Oameni.Arhitectură อ า ห า ร . ธ ร ร ม ช า ต . ค น . ส ถ า ปั ต ย ก ร ร ม Food.Nature.People.Architecture 음 식 . 자 연 . 사 람 . 건 축 Хоол.Байгаль.Хүмүүс.Архитектур Cuisine.Nature.Gens.Architecture 饮 食 . 自 然 . 人 . 建 筑 Еда.Природа.Люди.Архитектура



Razvan - George GORCEA Mulţumiri speciale părinţilor mei pentru susţinerea si încrederea pe care mi-o acordă. Mulţumesc mamei mele pentru că m-a făcut să descopăr din copilărie natura si aventura. Mulţumesc tatălui meu pentru că-mi este mentor permanent si se îngrijeşte de formarea mea. Remerciements particuliers à Monsieur Remy Butler, pour m’avoir ouvert les yeux à l’Asie, et pour l’affection paternelle qu’il me porte.

© 2011 Razvan-George Gorcea


Š 2011 Razvan-George Gorcea


episode 03

“AT THE BORDER” COMING FROM CHINA TO MONGOLIA, I REALIZED THAT… EASTERN EUROPE BEGINS HERE!

LOCATION: The Chinese – Mongolian border: Erenhot or Erlian or Eriyen or Ereen or 二连浩特 or

Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China


2 COUNTRIES – 4 LANGUAGES

Outside train station Erenhot, Inner Mongolia, China

FOOD

The famous Trans Mongolian train stops more than 10 hours in the border city of Erenhot, China. They must change the wagons wheel width from the standard gauge to the Russian gauge (wider). The restaurants flourish in the city. Everything is written in 4 alphabets (Chinese, Mongol, Russian and rarely English).



BREAKFAST

Outside train station Erenhot, Inner Mongolia, China

FOOD

Some local rice dish and warm tea was served for breakfast along with my train cabin roommates from Hong Kong. The water is boiled in this custom made samovar. The inside double wall allows to put the coil under and the water in the outer chamber.



RESTAURANT OPENING

Restaurant in Erenhot, Inner Mongolia, China

FOOD

Fireworks announced the opening of a new Chinese restaurant in town. I go along with my Hong Kong companions. We had a delicious mix of Chinese food, prepared and served just beside our table. We could find everything to eat in this city in the middle of the desert.



FOOD



WAKING UP IN THE DESERT

On the train before Erenhot, Inner Mongolia, China

NATURE

What separates Mongolia from China are not the mountains – it is the Gobi Desert - a horizontal frontier, the widest cold desert in the world. After one night in the train from Hohhot, we wake up in the train and we find out we are in the middle of nowhere, still on the Chinese side of the desert – just sand and bushes.



NATURE



COLONIZING THE DESERT

On the train near Erenhot, Inner Mongolia, China

NATURE

Slowly, the Inner Mongolia province of China begins to inhabit the desert. As huge site of exploitation of natural resources are built, new colonies appear, thousands of kilometers of highway are being constructed. The roads are planted besides with trees, agriculture fields appear in the middle of the desert.



NATURE



FAKE NOMADS

On the train before Erenhot, Inner Mongolia, China

NATURE

In Inner Mongolia, province of China live more than 4 million Mongol ethnics (double of the entire population of Mongolia). But the most of them aren’t nomads anymore. What one can see in the shape of their ancient type of house (“ger” or “yurt”) they are actually tourist camps, or restaurant or actually settled houses with concrete walls white painted.



TRANS-MONGOLIAN TRAIN

Trans Mongolian railway, Mongolia

NATURE

From Hohhot, capital city of Inner Mongolia there is a train to Ulaanbaatar leaving twice a week. This Trans-Mongolian train crosses the Gobi desert and the vast Mongolian steppe in more than 2 days and nights. This is the only Mongolian railway connecting China to Russia and the trans-Siberian railway.



NATURE



THE DESERT BECOMES GREEN

Not far from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

NATURE

Crossing to Mongolia, the landscape starts to change its shape after the second night in train. We are leaving behind the desert and enter the Mongolian grasslands.



NATURE



REAL NOMADS’ LAND

Not far from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

NATURE

If on the Chinese side of the Gobi Desert there is a strong feeling of infrastructure, inhabited territory, big cities. But on the Mongolian side we instantly feel the emptiness of the untouched lands. No highways, no concrete, just some rarely speeded yurts (“ger” in Mongolian) along with their horses, goats, cows or other animals.



NATURE



HOT (3) WHEELS!

Erenhot-border city, Inner Mongolia, China

PEOPLE

The town is bustling everywhere with all kinds of means of transportation. From the tricycle taxis to the normal ones, almost everybody uses some vehicle to cross this flat urbanized area.



PEOPLE



BUYING EVERYTHING FROM CHINA

Erenhot-border city, Inner Mongolia, China

PEOPLE

This city is a big supermarket for the Mongol people. They come by car or train to buy any kind of products for themselves or to sell back in Mongolia. One can find everything here from materials to electronics.



PEOPLE



CRAFTSMEN STILL EXIST

Market in Erenhot, Inner Mongolia, China

PEOPLE

Although a commercial city based on industrial products, semi-industrial crafted objects can be found in the market. A special object is the samovar used to boil water.



NEW CITY, EMPTY HOUSES

Erenhot-border city, Inner Mongolia, China

ARCHITECTURE

In the middle of Gobi Desert, entire new cities are built like citadels. In the last few years the city doubled its size. Strategically placed at the border with Mongolia, the brand new blocks of flats wait their inhabitants.



ARCHITECTURE



SOLAR PUBLIC LIGHTING

Erenhot-border city, Inner Mongolia, China

ARCHITECTURE

As before there was no public lighting system, the Chinese authorities implement modern technology to power the street lighting – photovoltaic panels and LED lights. The challenge to colonize the desert seems to be well managed by this constantly growing world power.



LEARNING FROM LAS VEGAS

Erenhot-border city, Inner Mongolia, China

ARCHITECTURE

One can find almost every kind of architectural “style” or mixture of styles in this small city – from European or American style buildings to modern architecture. Like Las Vegas in the American Wild West, the Chinese create new age colony city in the Gobi Desert.



ARCHITECTURE



COMMERCIAL HEAVEN

Erenhot-border city, Inner Mongolia, China

ARCHITECTURE

The real attraction of this border point is its commercial strategy. Permanently Mongolian people cross the border, as they don’t need a visa to cross in China (but the Chinese do need a Mongolian one).



ARCHITECTURE



EUROPE BEGINS IN MONGOLIA

On the train before Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

ARCHITECTURE

The Mongolians started to settle in cities or in houses or flats, during the Soviet Union influence. Therefore, the house model they adopted is not Chinese, not Asian anymore. The Russian type of house got roots in the Mongolian urban sprawl. Despite the yurts (ger) kept along, the landscape changes an d loses its connection with their Asian neighbors.



ARCHITECTURE



Mulţumesc! ขอบพระคุณครับ ! Thank you ! 감사합니다 ! Гялайлаа ! Merci ! 谢谢 ! Спасибо !



Thanks to my translators: Huang Xing - Chinese Anton Ivanov - Russian Patrick Bayarsaikhan - Mongolian Lassamon Maitreemit - Thai Yun Young Mi - Korean Kim Dong Hee - Korean

Thanks to Alexandru Senciuc PROMOTED

BY

Š 2011 Razvan-George Gorcea

:


Razvan-George Gorcea

Born in 1986 in the city of Suceava, Romania, he grows up in the beautiful region of Bucovina, surrounded by mountains and monasteries. The success in mathematics competitions allows him to travel in different parts of Romania along with his studies. He begins the architecture studies at ÂŤ Ion Mincu Âť University in Bucharest. At this point, space and urban explorations become decisive for his education. He begins extensive travels in all Europe, before and during his studies in Paris since 2007. A larger interest evolves into the understanding of human settlement development and its cultural mechanisms. His one year journey in Eastern Asia changes completely his perspective, creating of wider sense of global consciousness. Now he tries to put together the knowledge he acquired and renew the out-dated models with an intercultural approach.


Razvan - George GORCEA

Mai mult decât un jurnal foto More than a photo journal Plus qu’un journal photo Mai mult decât o călătorie turistică More than a traveller’s trip Plus qu’un voyage touristique Integrare totală în cultură Immersion into the culture Immersion dans la culture Descoperind MANCAREA Discovering FOOD. En découvrant la CUISINE Admirând NATURA Celebrating NATURE Célébrant la NATURE Cunoscând OAMENII Connecting with PEOPLE Entrer en contact avec les GENS Inţelegând ARHITECTURA Understanding ARCHITECTURE Comprenant l’ARCHITECTURE Schimbare permanentă a reperelor Permanent change of perspective Changement de perspective “Vestul” devine “est” The “West” becomes the “East” “L’Ouest” devient “l’est” Observatorul devine actor The viewer becomes actor L’observateur devient acteur Fotografiile capătă sens The photos get meaning and notes Les photos prennent du sens Fiecare împărtăşeşte o poveste Each one has a story to share Chacune partage une histoire


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