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This video contains some interesting details about the history of the Ejine Torghuts. After their settlement in Ejine almost 300 years ago, Torghut nobles took wives mostly from the Halh Mongols. Yonghong says that although traditional Torghut clothes have been preserved very well, the Torghuts in Ejine have lost many of their culture, for instance, the Jangar epic and the Savardan dance. Torghuts used to herd horses, cattle and sheep, but today camels and goats predominate. In everyday life, once can see some differences between the Torghuts and the Halh. The Torghut yurt, for example, is taller than the Halh version. The Torghuts are mostly Buddhist, though some also believe in shamanism. There are three monasteries in Ejine: Dashchoilin, Janchinamjil, and Dambadarjia, the last of which being a Halh monastery built in the 1930s. Today, lamas can marry and have children, and they live in their own homes, only coming to monasteries for chanting on certain days. Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin

Sanjiin Khand is an urtiin duu singer and deputy head of the Ejine Torghut Urtiin Duu Association. She says that her father often sang in the toorai (diversifolious poplar) forest of Ejine when he herded sheep and locals called him toorain duuchin. Her mother was also an urtiin duu singer who learned singing from Boov who was once the official urtiin duu singer of Prince Lhavangjav. Kand remembers her mother as someone who could sing for three nights and nights without repeating, and she helped her mother record about 100 songs which will be published soon. She regrets, however, that she only remembers 3 of the 13 special songs her mother liked to sing that praise Ejine Torghuts' thirteen light bay (13 heer) horses, which is a great cultural loss. The Ejine Urtiin Duu Association was established in 2002 as a branch of the Alasha League Urtiin Duu Association. Since its establishment, the Association published a series of Alsha folksong books. In 2012, the Ejine branch officially became an independent urtiin duu association in Ejine with about 100 members who were predominantly local elders. The new association has since been organising local Torghut urtiin duu singers to participate in the competitions in Alsha League and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. And Kand also keeps in touch with other Torghut singers in Xinjiang through Wechat. The association periodically teaches in primary schools in Ejine. Despite these successes, Kand has some worries as well. She is concerned that the younger generations now find the Torghut urtiin duu melodies too long and too difficult to sing, and they are more attracted to Halh Mongolian short songs.Kand sang three songs in this interview. The first song is called Shar Talin Burgas (Bushes in Shar Tal) which she believes was composed in Shar Tal where Ejine Torghuts temporarily lived before settling in Ejine. In her view, the song expresses the Torghuts’ aspiration to return to Kalmykia as soon as possible. The second one is Ejine Tuuliin Us, which sings about the Ejine river, the Bayanbogd mountains and Torghut leaders. Composed after their settlement in Ejine, the song celebrates their comfortable life along the Ejine river. The last one is Örgön Ih Ijil Zai, which she learned from her mother. She says this song was composed when the Torghuts were still in the Volga region. Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin

Ayan Jav, born in Hobogsair in 1927, was the former governor (1956-1963) of the Hobogsair Mongolian Autonomous County. His political career commenced in 1946 when he attended the Three Districts Revolution. He was also a member of the 80 partisans who fought against Osman Kazakhs in the Altai district. In 1951, 8 people from Tarbagatai were dispatched to Hobogsair where they established a cell of the Chinese Communist Party; Ayan Jav was the one of the 5 Mongolians in the group. In 1953, he fought in the Korean War as a voluntary soldier for 6 months. Ayan Jav, in this video, talks about the official history of Hobogsair from the 1940s to recent years. As he remembers, after the Torghut prince of Hobogsair was arrested, the Chinese Nationalist Party authorities confiscated the weapons of his soldiers, conscripted Torghuts and collected horses and other domestic animals. As a result, the Torghuts in Hobogsair could not resist the Osman Kazaks’ attacks and the oppression of the Chinese Nationalist Party, leading to significant losses of both the population and domestic animals. In 1944, the Chinese Nationalist Party conscripted 600 Torghuts with horses from Hobogsair to Urumchi. After the Torghut revolt headed by Zongorov failed, Torghuts migrated to the Soviet side for political asylum. Suffering from poverty, the majority came back within a year, the rest returning after the victory of the Three Districts Revolution.Apart from the political turmoil, in the 1940s, Torghuts also suffered from a plague (sharaldag) that rampaged Hobogsair. According to the population survey in 1940 conducted by the Chinese Nationalist Party, there were 30,000 Torghuts and 800,000 domestic animals. In 1946, another census showed that there were no more than 7,000 of Torghuts and 80,000 of domestic animals left. Hobogsair was also flooded with 1,000 Kazakhs herding animals for Torghuts, and about 200 Han Chinese who were mostly itinerant traders. Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin

Galsanpuntsug says that the Qing court originally permitted the Ejine Torghuts to live in a place called Anxi Gobi outside of the Jiayuguan Pass. Repeatedly, however, the Ejine Torghuts tried to return to Kalmykia but the Qing dynasty held Arabjur as a hostage. Caught between the Jungar Khanate and the Qing dynasty, some Torghuts, such as Mergen Tsorj, a commander under Danzan Noyan, joined the Jungar Khanate against the Qing dynasty while they were in Gasin Aman. Danzan then parted company with Mergen Tsorj and moved to Shar Tal with permission from the Qing. The Ejine Torghuts made their final migration in 1958 when the Chinese army took their land for military use. That winter, hundreds of military trucks were sent in to ship Torghut herders deep into the Gobi desert. A new banner centre was built at the Dalaihöv town. They have been suffering from ecological problems ever since. Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin

The Torghut cultural artefacts exhibition in the museum of Hejing county is the focus of this video. The Torghut tangible cultural heritage is displayed on the second floor of the museum. At the entrance of the museum one can find animal branding irons in different shapes. These were used by 44 Torghut sums in Bayangol before the Chinese Communist Party took over power in 1949. Today, however, some families still use them. Among the items on display are wooden tanks and boxes for foods, trinkets from the former Torghut Royal Palace (Höh Yaman, or Blue Palace), a Torghut yurt filled with essential tools. Among different seasonal dresses on display, one can see a special dress, which was a gift sent from the Republic of Kalmykia to Subsun, the last princess of the Torghuts. Local brand products are displayed on the other side of the museum: Ubashi wine, Donggui wine (Return to the East wine), Arshat (natural spring), Khaidagingol wine (Kaidag river wine), Baatar wine (hero wine), Bayanbor milk wine, dried meat and cereal foods, etc. Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin