I must say, though, the booties do have a certain "muppet chic" to them.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

There are a great many things about this viewpoint that I found unsettling at the time.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

Time to suit up! Without these booties, the sand would get everwhere, or so's the story. Unfortunately, they also have a tendency to come off.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

Do I detect a hint of fear on this bear's face?
EAP China! Robert Klein.

You can slide down this hill.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

I never understod the concept of "fashion police until I saw this crew.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

"Jia you(r)!" That's a Chinese cheer which directly translates to "fill with gasoline!"
EAP China! Robert Klein.

Looks like that truck's about to take a sharp plunge into the abiss.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

My school (and me, personally) used to compete in regional string music competitions at San Ramon Valley High. What a small world.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

I can't say this sign comforted me any.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

Go bears! And I love Beijing, too! I can't say I dig the pink, though.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

Note the truck in the background.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

These two are really far too cool for their own good.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

There's a bit of a southwest motif going on here.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

This truck "progresses" during our wait for the chairlifts across the gorge.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

"The Rsonant [sic.] Sand Gorge" may be the most touristed site in Nei Meng Gu, or at least it seems like it considering no matter which Chinese "ger camp" people stay at, they all end up here, too.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

But Catherine, as always, is utterly undefeatable. Just wait until you see her running up and down the great wall.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

It's a long bus ride.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

On a brighter note, howdy partner!
EAP China! Robert Klein.

Here's a better shot of the plant itself.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

You can see the entire process here, the mining, the big black piles, and the coal-fired power plants so huge that their towers look like American nuclear facilities.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

This doesn't look like the healthiest river to me. To the left appears to be a coal facility of some kind.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

The next two shots provide a great contrast of the Inner Mongolian landscape, dominated by farms...
EAP China! Robert Klein.

The area right next to the hotel is very prosperous...I passed a BMW being apparently given as a wedding present. A friend of mine just kept walking deeper into the neighborhood, and she said back there the slums were amazingly horrendous.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

This is our hotel on the very eastern tip of Baotou, coal mining slumopolis of Inner Mongolia.
EAP China! Robert Klein.

Sorry for the lighting on this shot, but I think it's a really neat railroad trestle adjacent to the expressway.
EAP China! Robert Klein.