Tour introduces Xi'an to ethnic Mongolian culture

With strings of coral beads, silver plates patterned with flowers and embroidery kits scattered on the table, Bato Checheg demonstrates the art of making traditional Mongolian ethnic headwear, a skill she learned from her mother about 25 years ago.

Despite the crowds surrounding her, she cannot help murmuring a Mongolian folk song from her hometown, Ordos Otog Banner, Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Titled Riding Home, the song depicts the way Mongolian ethnic people welcome guests to their home on the grasslands.

"I sing the song when I work on the headwear. It's an old habit," says the 54-year-old Bato Checheg, in her blue and red traditional Mongolian robe.