Naadam: Our Final Festival

One of the best things about not living in a larger Chinese city like Beijing, Shanghai, or even Hangzhou is the presence of other cultures. In many parts of the country, the traditional Han Chinese culture is dominant and other cultures (Tibetan and Uyghur in particular) are many times discouraged and swept under the carpet. However, here in Bayannur somehow the Han culture and the Mongolian culture have managed to work together to create a very unique culture all its own that compliments one another.

During our May Holiday trip to Hohhot we got our first taste of Mongolian culture and today, we got our second taste with the Mongolian Student Association holding their very own Naadam Festival.

Naadam (Наадам in Mongolian and Naɣadum in Traditional Mongolian) literally means "games." It is an Eastern version of the Olympics and has three different events (which is why it is sometimes called "эрийн гурван наадам" or "the three games of men")--wrestling, archery, and horseback riding. Traditionally (just like the Olympics), this festival is reserved only for men, however, in recent years, women have begun to take part in both archery and horseback riding all throughout Mongolia. 

The largest festival, known as the National Naadam, is held in the capitol of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar (ᠤᠯᠠᠭᠠᠨᠪᠠᠭᠠᠲᠤᠷ), from July 11-13. It is believed that the Naadam Festival has roots that date back thousands of years in one way or another--once connected to celebrations such as births and weddings as well as a way to train soldiers. However, today it is the official celebration of the 1921 Revolution where Mongolia declared its independence from China. 

Mongolia is just north of China and south of Russia

Supposedly, Genghis Khan's nine horse tails are still brought ceremoniously to the National Stadium for the opening ceremony. The nine horse tails are meant to represent the nine Mongol tribes. Of course, no one knows where Genghis Khan is buried so I'm not so sure where they found his horses...

Genghis Khan... Father of all Mongols.

The first event for the Naadam games is wrestling and it's only open for men to participate. Mongolian wrestling is different from other types of wrestling like those found in Japan and America. It is untimed and the only rule is that (other than your hands and feet) no part of your body can touch the ground. There are various rounds with one winner and one loser in each round. The wrestlers wear a two piece outfit--a tight shoulder vest called a "zodog" and shorts  called "shuudag." And each wrestler has an encourager or a "zasuul." They cheer on their wrestler and sing a song of praise and congratulations to the winner. 

You can see the zasuul as well as the tight shoulder vest and awkwardly short shorts.

The second event is archery and it is open for both men and women. Archery is a vital part of the Mongolian culture despite persecution in the past. The Mongols were some of the best archers in the world and even still today. The competition is split into teams of ten where men shoot from 75m away and women from 65m away. Unlike our traditional ideas of what archery tournaments look like (thank you, Robin Hood), Mongolian archery tournaments are very different. They have many different targets called "surs." The surs are woven or wooden cylinders and they are stacked three high. The goal is to knock out as many surs from the different stacks as possible in the round your team shoots. The goal is to hit 33. If there is a good hit, the judge will yell out "Uuhai!" which means "Hooray!" The winners of this game are given the title of National Marksman/Markswoman.

Women have finally begun to take part in the Naadam Festival as of 2005.

The third and final event is a bit different from the other two. It is open to both men and women but it is only open to those between the ages of 5-13 years! Just like archery, horses have been an integral part of Mongolian history and culture and that is clear even in the Naadam Festival. Just like archery tournaments, horse races in Mongolia are very different from those in America. In America, races are generally short (maybe 2km) and held within an enclosed track. In Mongolia, it is more of a cross-country event rather than a sprint. The length of the race depends on the age of the horse (a younger horse may only race for ten miles and older horses might go for seventeen miles). The child who wins the race is given the title "tumny ekh" or the "leader of ten thousand."

The little jockeys.

Now when I was first looking up things for Adam and me to do in Inner Mongolia, my heart sank when I saw the dates for the Naadam Festival, knowing full well that we'd already be back in America at this point. However, today we got a surprise message telling us that the Mongolian students at HeTao College were holding their own games before everyone goes home for the summer. We knew we wouldn't be able to get up to Ulaanbaatar so we were happy to go to the school's stadium and check it out.

At first, I felt bad--we were literally the only people there (I get the feeling that there is a big divide between the Chinese students and the Mongolian students here) but eventually more people came out to show their support. 

The Festival opened with a dance by a group of students dressed in beautiful traditional Mongolian dresses. Spinning around and even using dance moves to symbolize the ever important horses from their culture, it was a beautiful way to start the celebration of the Mongolian people and culture. 

The blue scarves in their hands are a Buddhist custom also seen in Tibet and even Nepal. However, instead of the traditional white, these scarves were blue. Blue is a very sacred color in Mongolian culture representing eternity as well as the sky so it would make sense their scarves would be blue. 

From there, four members of the Mongolian community, dressed in traditional clothing (called "deel"), made their way slowly around their very own ovoo (shrines scattered throughout the grasslands, usually made of stones, where people come to pray for rain). The four men walked around the ovoo three times, just as we were taught to do when we visited the grasslands. Each of them held one of the blue scarves as well as different plates of food. As usual, we had no idea what was going on, but I'm thinking it was some sort of offering given up to bless the games. After all, the Naadam games were once seen as a Buddhist celebration until influence from Communist Russia affected the games in the 1930s and made them much more secular.

The two very different ovoos--one in the grasslands and one in our stadium.

The men walking around the ovoo three times before offering up different plates of food.

Of course, our Naadam Festival did not have horseback riding as an event (no children, no horses, no cross-country). The majority of the festival was watching the young men wrestle one another. Some got really into it and others just let their opponent throw them over their shoulders within the first three seconds. They wore their "zodog" tight shoulder vests but, thankfully, the shorts were replaced with jeans and sweatpants. 

We were originally up in the stands but then one of the Mongolian teachers came up to us and brought us back down to the VIP seats right on the field. Nice!

I'll admit, archery was a bit lame. For how much history has built up the Mongols as these incredible archers, most of the guys shooting didn't even seem to know how to hold a bow! I guess times have changed... However, there was still a "sur" for them to shoot at and they drew back with their thumb as opposed to their pointer finger like we were taught out in the grasslands!

Let the foreigners show you how it's done! 

Descendants of the great Khans and Mongols!

Of course, our school's little Naadam Festival was nowhere close to what you would see at the National Festival. However, I'm really proud of the students who came together during finals week to celebrate their culture in a place where it's sometimes hard to be proud of who you are. I could see from the dancing to the wrestling to the smiles that they were having fun, being themselves, and sharing their proud Mongolian culture with us. 

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Well, this is the last you'll hear from me for a little while. Tomorrow we are flying out of Bayannur and making our way to one of the happiest places on earth--Hong Kong Disneyland! A few days of magic and then it is back to the land of the free and the home of the brave. 

See you all in four days!!

Until Next Time,

Amanda