Lunchtime Seminar – 27 November – Ayur Zhanaev

N.B. This seminar is in-person only

Investigating a ‘Provincial Beijing’ at a Crossroads of the Silk Route. The Case of Bayanhot in Inner Mongolia

Ayur Zhanaev (University of Cambridge)

During this seminar, I want to discuss some preliminary thoughts on parts of my thesis. My research focuses on the historical makeup of Bayanhot, a town formerly known as Dingyuanying in the Alasha league of Inner Mongolia, China. The town was a Mongol-governed yet complex site that synthesised various economic and ethnic cultures. Through a close reading of archival sources, travelogues, and fieldwork materials, I examine the city in terms of complex inter-communal interactions. For the seminar, I will present the final chapter of my thesis, which explores the contemporary reconstruction of the historical site and local responses to it.