When do you usually wake up on a work day?

We frequently complain about how early we have to wake up for school or work. Sleeping late at night and waking up at 7 AM is the typical schedule of a student and worker. The bustling city seems so cold-blooded that the competition here forces onto its residents an intense schedule that wears people out by the end of the week.

Think about the life of a nomad, when do you think he would have to wake up?

The nomadic lifestyle remains a popular way of life in the Left Barag Banner of Hulunbuir in Inner Mongolia. Here, many mongols have chosen to stay on the prairies, living a lifestyle quite similar to that of a nomad. Away from the hustles of city life, life on the grasslands seems like an appealing idea. No workplace drama, no academic stress, life here seems to be so tranquil and relaxed. In reality, it is not.

Mongols take on an arduous lifestyle to sustain a living in such extreme weathers. Typically, a mongol wakes up at 3 AM, because that is the time the cows start waking up. First thing the cows do when they wake up is that they piss. During winter, a thick layer of hay is laid on the floor of the barn to keep the cows warm. If the cows piss on that hay, the liquid would freeze, disabling any use that hay originally had.

Around 7 AM, someone needs to go out to the water pipes and fill the cows’ water boxes. This is a long and cold process. The cows are spread across the prairie, which could range from 1000-10000 acres large. Somehow, mongols manage to recognize each cow by their unique facial features, and they need to make sure that every cow has drank water before they can go back into their yurts. Occasionally, some cows don’t hear the mongol calling them to drink water, further complicating this procedure.

Preparation for winter starts in summer. Now that grass prices have soared, mongols have to prepare their own grass so that cows and sheep don’t starve during winter. They need to start collecting chunks of grass starting in summer, in this way, they are guaranteed to have tens of thousands of kilos of grass by the time winter arrives. Due to the rising price of grass, one can almost determine the wealthiness of a herdsman by looking at how much grass they’ve prepared for winter. The more grass a family has, the more animals and the more money they have. On the plains, the number of animals is a indicator of wealth and status.

Mongols take very good care of their animals, to them, these animals are their companion to rely on during hard times and difficult seasons. In contrary to the popular perception that mongols eat a very fat-heavy diet consisting of mostly meat and fats, most mongols rely on milk tea and noodles for most of their meals. In the morning, they usually have some milk tea and some dairy. For lunch, they have homemade noodles with a tiny bit of beef or lamb teared into pieces to add flavor to the noodles. For dinner, they usually eat the same food they had for lunch. Cows and sheep are expensive to keep, mongols rely on them for most of their income, and eating a lot of meat on a daily basis can easily bankrupt a family.

While it might be surprising, there is actually a huge wealth disparity on the plains. Similar to an urban community, on the plains, there is a hierarchical social structure organized based on both status and wealth. They have clan-like communities, which are communities organized and grouped using their family names, usually led by the influential and wealthy individuals in that clan.

On one hand, some families may be so wealthy that they can afford a rather luxurious lifestyle eating beef and lamb every day, others may be struggling to even maintain a living.

Daily Agenda of a Mongol: What must Mongols do to Survive?

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