Chinese Borders (Part II): Dinosaurs and Rainbows

In Part II of the Chinese Borders Special, we are viewing two border crossings between Mongolia and China.  If you missed Part I of the series, click here to read about one of the world's highest borders.

Yes. This is a thing.
Dinosaurs
The Chinese town of Erenhot (Erlian) lies at the edge of the Mongolian border.  Because of the region's vast dinosaur finds, a dinosaur park and various dinosaur statures were built.  The most impressive statues stand just before the border: the two sauropods kissing across the highway.

Erenhot: Where dinosaurs make out.

Kissing Sauropods bridge the road outside Erenhot by Phil McDonald
And they're not simply kissing.  They're full-on, French-kissing.  Why?  Because dinosaurs need love too.
Sculptor: "I want to build two dinosaurs licking each others' tongues over a highway."
China: "Shut up and take our money!"

Somewhere Under the Rainbow
Erenhot (Erlian) Nation Gate

Continue further through Erenhot (Erlian), to the actual Mongolian-Chinese border, and be greeted by a welcoming rainbow arch.  Inner Mongolia, the semi-autonomous Chinese region, is seen as a keystone in peaceful Chinese-Mongolian relations.  It has even been described "as a 'rainbow' for its multidimensional role bridging Sino-Mongolian relations through trade, trans-border, and cultural ties."*  

Approaching the border
Conclusion
In the land known for its Great Wall, it is striking to now find a welcoming rainbow.  A border once strewn with victims' bodies is now guarded by two dinosaur lovers. You're not allowed to walk the dinosaur roadway though, you have drive it.


Thanks for reading.

Want more content? Ever wonder why north is called north? Or why south is called south?  Find out by viewing this article on cardinal directions.

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Attribution: 
Kissing Dinosaurs 1: Wikimedia
Kissing Dinosaurs 2: By Phil MacDonald - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24621685
Kissing Dinosaurs 3: Daily Mail
*Quote from: China’s Frontier Regions: Ethnicity, Economic Integration and Foreign Relations, by Michael Clarke, Doug Smith
Rainbow Border 1: https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g1028585-d1865215-i150790983-Erlian_Nation_Gate-Erenhot_Inner_Mongolia.html
Rainbow Border 2: http://www.fromthebaytobeijing.com/day-319-in-beijing-erlian-mongolia-visa-run-hours-18-24/

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