Tangnu Ulianghai A city that surrendered to Tsarist Russia during the Qing Dynasty and is now impoverished
On December 1, 1911, Outer Mongolia and Tangnu Ulianghai became independent from the Qing Dynasty on November 1, 1911, and requested the ** emperor to immediately send Russian troops to Outer Mongolia and Wulianghai.
Nicholas II immediately ordered troops to move into these two regions, claiming to be a "protectorate" of Tsarist Russia, and in 1921 the Donu-Ulianghai was renamed Tuva, and in 1944 it was annexed to Soviet territory.
Tangnu Wulianghai area in history has been invaded by the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Rouran, Kyrgyz, Junggar and other tribes, to 1271, was conquered by Xu Da, most of the Yuan Dynasty was destroyed by Xu Da, Yuan Huizong and others fled to Mongolia and Tangnu Wuliang, until 1758, the Qing ** regained it.
In a sense, the Tangnu Ulianghai, or the Republic of Tuva, never enjoyed any happy life, which is why they did not hesitate to take refuge in Tsarist Russia when the Manchus fell.
However, whether it is the Tsarist Russian Dynasty or the Soviet period, its "Asian center" status determines that it will not bring it any opportunities for peace and development, and the Soviet Union has carried out a comprehensive "purge" of Tuva, turning it into an important buffer zone in Asia.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Tuva was lifted from the previous military exclusion zone, and all the figures were announced: its area reached 170,000 square kilometers, 80% of which were mountainous, the longest was 700 kilometers, 450 kilometers from north to south, the highest place was 3,970, there were more than 8,000 large and small rivers, more than 500 lakes, and a population of 3360,000 (2021).
Despite the lifting of the lockdown, living in the remote hinterland, the life of the people of Tuva is not easy, not only with an average salary at the lowest level in the Russian Federation, but also with culture (literacy rate of 27%), medical care (average expectation of 56.).5 years old), infrastructure (no tracks, no highways, only more than 300 kilometers of roads), almost all of them are at the bottom of the Russian Federation, and they are not as good as neighboring Mongolia.
The Russian guide who drove me from Altay to Tuva told me that only a small number of Russians live in the capital Kyzyl, and that most of the inhabitants of other towns in Tuva are indigenous because of poverty, chaos, backwardness and isolation.
Kyzyl, the capital of Tuva, has long been known as the "environmental capital" under the propaganda of Russia, and in this year's Russian Federation selection, it was awarded the title of "best air quality" among 170 Russian cities.
But in the eyes of the locals, this choice is undoubtedly a kind of "irony", Kizil does not have any industry, and even the toilets have to be bought from Mongolia (closer to China), and the air can be so bad that it can be?
The most confusing thing is that there are very few reports about Kyzyl on the Internet, most of them are about crimes in Russia, the ** capital of Russia, the poorest cities, etc., and even Russian tour guides are helpless about it, because they don't even have a formal report.
To put it nicely, Tuva is not a popular place, especially in Kyzyl, although the surroundings are good, but there is almost nothing to show off in the city, and most of the daily necessities are shipped from Mongolia, so the level of consumption here is not high, or even inferior to Mongolia.
The Russians professed Orthodox Christianity, the Tuvans practiced shamanism, and after the Soviet Union was declared "untrustworthy", the shamans completely died out and were replaced by Russia (Buryatia and Kalmykia).
A lama at a monastery in the suburbs said that Buddhism in Russia has been around for more than 200 years, while Buddhism in Dawei Province was introduced only in the late Qing Dynasty, so its development has been relatively slow, and there are now only eight monasteries and more than 300 monks in the country.
The most famous attraction in Kyzyl is the "Obelisk of Asia".
Interestingly, however, the tour guide told me that this obelisk is not a precise measuring point, but a landmark structure, the first obelisk in central Asia was erected in 1964 140 kilometers away from Kyzyl, and in 2014, it was moved to the banks of the Yenisei River adjacent to the city, which is the most worthwhile place to visit in Kyzyl.
About 1 km south of the obelisk, you can see Kizil's iconic landscapes: the National Museum and the Hall of Youth. Unfortunately, both the art gallery and the art gallery are closed.
At first, I thought it was because there were not many people here, and it wouldn't be open often, but now there is a group of Tuvans on the Internet, claiming that the antiques and books on display here are not real, and they don't tell about the real Tuvan civilization.
Interestingly, when we walked out into the street, the tour guide suddenly slapped himself on the thigh: "How did I forget him?".With that, he hurried to an old house.
Later it became known that the university was established during the Soviet era, and the top governor at that time was Sergei Shoigu, who was from seven to seventeen years old, and because of Shoigu, the dilapidated building that should have been demolished was "patched up" by him, and it was not demolished until today, but if it was demolished, he did not want people to know.
In fact, before coming to Tuva, I was told that Kyzyl was a very backward provincial capital, but it turned out to be not only a poor country, but also very conservative and hostile to the outside world, so we did not stay here, but chose a place called the "forgotten village", which existed more than 20 years ago in the Soviet Union.