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Ba Shang Prairie by Ben Moger-Williams photos by Lu Yan
Over the October 1 holiday weekend, some friends and I decided to go Ba Shang for a two-day trip with a tour group. About a hundred bleary-eyed but excited tourists met at 6:30 am in the parking lot of the Parkson Shopping Center in downtown Beijing. We boarded the monster tour bus and set off for Hebei. When we were almost there, our tour guide started pointing out scenic spots along the route. There was a large lamasery being built by a Taiwanese student who left his secular life after failing to get accepted into any universities. There were also several bizarre rock formations and caves on the surrounding mountains. One of the stranger things we saw was four rows of small boulders lined up across a dry river by the road. The guide explained that in the 1960's, there were rumors that the Soviets were going to invade China and they reportedly had vehicles of death called "tanks". So the local farmers diligently set out to block the imminent Russian tank invasion by putting rocks across the river. Finally we arrived at the camp, marked by a large windmill which I suspected was Driving through the villages we had to stay alert and swerve to avoid pigs, chickens and other fare. At the reservoir/lake we de-Jeeped, and got out to take some pictures, play with some fishermen's boats, and dig up potatoes with two friendly locals. We bought two bags of spuds for 2 yuan(US$0.25). The sun was descending at that point and it was time to head back. Unfortunately, about halfway back to base camp we blew a tire. We sent one of our number back with a passing motorcyclist to get help, as our ride was not equipped with a spare. The sun went behind the mountains, the temperature plunged, and still no help was in sight. Luckily we were right by a village and an old farmer invited us in to sit on his family's "kang", a brick bed which is connected to the cooking stove underneath, so it stays warm whenever there's a fire on in the kitchen. We were so grateful when we finally left that we bought a chicken from him. However we were all sort of afraid to carry the live chicken so one of the kids carried it for us and put it in the trunk. Help had still not arrived, so we decided to drive on the busted tire anyway. After about an hour the rescue team arrived and changed our tire. We made it back just in time for the sheep barbeque. By this time everybody was hitting the Erguotou pretty hard and there was a huge crowd gathered around the several sheep spits. The primitive setting of the bonfires and yurts (plus the Erguotou) brought out the caveman in all of us hungry travelers, and we stripped the meat off the carcass with our bare hands. There was also a practical reason for this: if you cut the meat off with a knife, you are likely to cut too deep and get a mouthful of raw sheep, which is a uniquely bad experience. But the meat that you can strip off with your hands is that which is already cooked well and is most delicious! We stuck chopsticks in the potatoes we bought and threw them into the bonfire, where after 10 minutes or so they became awesome baked potatoes. The meal was followed by a somewhat surreal disco party under the stars that moved inside after midnight. The next morning we got up and prepared for a half day of horseback riding, since the bus back to Beijing left at 1:30pm. I was a little wary of riding a horse because of my previous riding experience. Last time I tried riding a horse, the fun lasted about 10 minutes. That is, after riding for 10 minutes or so, my horse suddenly knelt down and literally shrugged me off his back. The owner was kind of surprised, and said "no problem, get back on". But after a few more minutes the same thing happened again. Let me clarify: I am 6'3" and about 245 lbs. So that little horse just couldn't handle my heft. However, the people at Ba Shang assured me that one horse, named "Da Huang" (Big Yellow), could do the job. And they were right! I mounted Da Huang, and off he trotted, happy as can be. He even galloped for a while. Horse rental at Ba Shang goes for 26 yuan/hour, plus a 10 yuan tip for the horse's owner. Jeeps were 150 yuan/hour. The bus ride home was long and tiring, and hardly anybody said anything. The excited chatter that filled the bus on the way out gave way to yawns and worn-out murmurs. We were all completely beat, but happy, from playing hard. To take part in a similar tour, you can call China Travel Center. |
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About a 6-hour drive from downtown Beijing, Hebei Province's Ba Shang Prairie is a great weekend getaway. The air is clean, the prairie is wide, and the atmosphere is a little wild and a lot of fun. 
powered by a motor. Behind the main building (which was a restaurant) were rows of little Mongolian-style yurts. We fetched our yurt keys, stowed our gear and tried to decide what to do next. We settled on going off-roading to a large reservoir about 30km away. Visions of bigfoot-like monster trucks faded as I saw the vehicles, which were nothing more than bashed up Beijing Jeeps. But still, I thought, pretty cool. The ten of us hopped in our two Jeeps and after figuring out where reverse and the other 3 gears were, we slammed off down the wretched dirt road, perilous with sharp rocks, potholes, and deep ditches off to the side. We drove through several villages, where there were huge piles of hay which looked like mounds of golden silk when the sun caught them just right. The sky over our heads was a bright blue canvas, wind-whipped clouds painted on with a fine brush. We all remarked how living in smoggy Beijing can make you forget that there can be days like that.