WildChina

WildChina Blog

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  May 16 2012

  Celebrating Naadam Festival in Mongolia

  Every year in July, the crescendo of boastful taunts between Mongolian men only means one thing - Naadam Festival has arrived!  The national holiday not only commemorates the 1921 revolution & the Mongol state's declaration of freedom, but it's also a Herculean display of athleticism and traditional song and dance.   Dubbed the "Three Games of Men", celebrations and competitions were traditionally tests of a man's skill, strength and daring.  Today, the games have evolved.  While man-to-man wrestling still remains just that, long-distance horse-racing and archery competitions are open to participants of all ages and for women as well.   If you'd like to join in on these activities, we recommend traveling with WildChina partner Nomadic Expeditions.  You can spend the holiday with nomadic families from a small town away from the crowds in the capital and relax in the open plains surrounding the Three Camels Lodge.   ---------- For other programs to Mongolia or more information, please contact us.  

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• 
  May 15 2012

  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits China

  A couple of weekends ago, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in town co-chairing the third U.S.-China Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE) alongside China's State Councilor Liu Yandong.  They discussed and presented plans for increased collaboration and exchange between the two countries over a huge variety of areas.  A couple of topics that really grabbed WildChina's attention were education and women.   [caption id="attachment_6787" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="China State Councilor Liu Yandong & U.S. Secretary Hillary Clinton"][/caption]   On education, Secretary Clinton stated, "American students...are yearning to learn more about China, and you cannot learn that from a textbook. You learn it from sitting across a table, having a discussion, sharing a meal, learning a language. There is nothing that substitutes for being in each other’s countries."  We could not agree more.  When students on our educational programs return from trip, the focus is typically on how much they appreciated the homestays with local families or giving lessons in English, art, basketball or the hokey-pokey to a group of Chinese students.   [caption id="attachment_6788" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Students of CET Academic Programs teach at a school in Guizhou province"][/caption]   Concerning women, the story of women entrepreneurship in China certainly hits close to home, and it's empowering to hear that conversations about the ways to improve opportunities for girls and women in both nations (and around the world) will continue.  After all, as mentioned in this inspiring microblog:     ---------- Photos by WildChina & Michael Gross, U.S. Department of State & textsfromhillaryclinton.tumblr.com  

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