Word: mongolians
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
When the Taliban were done dynamiting the two colossal stone Buddhas of Bamiyan in central Afghanistan, they partied hard. They danced, hooted and slaughtered a cow. But Syed Mirza Hussain wasn't celebrating. A Hazara Afghan with Mongolian features and a rusty beard, Hussain had been forced by the Taliban to pack explosives around the statues. The Taliban warned that if he refused, he would be shot. It was a threat that Hussain, a Shi'ite Muslim hated by the Sunni Taliban, took seriously. Earlier, a Taliban fighter had gunned down Hussain's two boys like stray dogs crossing...
Yurts were invented thousands of years ago by Mongolian nomads, and the basic structural elements haven't changed much since then. A yurt has a circular lattice wall topped by a round roof that comes to an adorable little point. The simple design belies its many virtues: yurts are tough as a yak, easy to build and cheap to heat. They're also eco-friendly: there's not much in them besides wood and cloth, and they sit lightly on the ground, no foundation required, so their impact on the environment is minimal...
...Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948. Five Arab countries invaded Israel, vowing in the words of the Secretary-General of the Arab League, that “this will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades. Israel’s conquest of what was formerly the West Bank of Jordan in 1967 was the result of the Arab war against the Jewish state, the so-called occupation of those disputed territories cannot retroactively have become its cause...
Little in today's Inner Mongolia resembles the mighty Mongol empire of the great khans. Chinese jeeps and motorcycles have largely replaced the hardy Mongolian ponies of the khans' cavalry, and camels carry as many tourists as traders over the dunes of A-la Shan. But the storied deserts of the region?the Gobi, the Tengger and the Badain Jaran?still offer a staggering variety of landscapes. Flat stretches of sand and rock alternate with Sahara-like dunes, dramatic canyons and plateaus covered with hardy shrubs. The extreme austerity makes you marvel that the Mongol hordes managed to survive, much...
While the food and drink are generous, good shopping in Inner Mongolia is scarce. Aside from dealers offering polished desert stones and ridiculously cheap rice whiskey, there is little more to bring home than memories of the wide open grasslands and the charm of Mongolian nomads and herders. And soon even those delights may be hard to find. Despite the grandeur of the desert landscape, it is impossible not to notice the growing environmental catastrophe. Countless hills and rangelands are giving way to erosion, as millions of sheep and goats eat the sparse vegetation and lay the ground bare...