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With a population of 4.8 million, the Mongolians
live in the North China's inner Mongolian Autonomous Region.
in the 13th century, Kublai
khan succeeded in conquering the Southern Song Dynasty and unifying
China under the Yuan Dynasty, thus setting up the first Chinese
dynasty under the rule of a minority nationality.
The Mongolians have quite a
developed culture. They believe in Lamaism and have their own oral
and written language. Their scholars have written a great number
of classic books on history, literature, language, medicine, and
weaponry. In addition, inner Mongolia is called the "homeland of
songs and dances".
The Mongolians are mainly engaged
in animal husbandry and grow some crops at the same time. Because
of their nomadic life style, they used to live in yurts.
The biggest annual holiday
for Mongolians is the Nadam Fair. The fair features such events
as wrestling, horse-racing, archery contest and tug-of-war. It is
usually held in April or May, or in autumn. Another feature of the
fair is the large-scale of cotton, cloth, silk, tea, and other traditional
goods and foods.
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