Dream Trip 2008: September

Great Travel Moment

One thing to look for when in China is a group of people (usually old men) in a giant huddle. These huddles can be found anywhere, and when you spot one, it is best that you join in, because there is definitely something interesting going on. Oftentimes it is a game of chess or cards, but other times it can be an intense cricket fight or some other event to gamble on. Approximately an hour away from Hohhot, Inner Mongolia in a poor village where pigs walked amongst the people, we saw one such huddle. A man was running a dice game where he?d roll three dice under a bowl, and people would bet large amounts of hard earned cash on different numbers/combos of numbers on his game board. The desperation of the players, the intensity of the game, and the anticipation for the next round were all almost tangible.