- One of the coldest capital cities in the world.
- Referred to by locals as UB.
- Population is 1.7 million people which is half of the population of the entire country.
- Foreign tourists totaled over 600,000 in 2023; mostly from Russia, China, and South Korea.
- The city wasn’t ready for the huge influx of country dwellers who moved to the city to find jobs. These people set up semi-permanent camps in the outskirts of town, called “ger districts”. 800,000 people live in poor conditions in these areas, with limited access to utilities and infrastructure. They have electricity, but they must purchase water from government kiosks. Waste removal is inefficient and infrequent.
- Ulaanbaatar is one of the most polluted cities in the world during the winter months, as 85% of the households in ger districts rely on wood or coal-burning stoves for warmth. The government is concerned about this issue and developing apartment complexes for these individuals to move into which would eliminate the need for coal-burning. There are other projects in place to help, such as providing home insulation and replacing almost 200,000 stoves with energy-efficient ones.
- PRIUS. PRIUS. PRIUS. Mongolia charges no excise or air pollution tax on hybrids to help with the pollution issue. The cars are cheap, fuel-efficient and easy to start in the cold. They can buy a used Prius for as little as $2,000. Japan exports used cars to Mongolia. Rather than paying for expensive safety tests which are required in Japan for vehicles more than three years old, many Japanese drivers buy a new car (which is the point of the tests…to boost domestic carmakers). Although driving is on the right side of the road in Mongolia, the majority of cars are right hand drive (due to the imports from Japan).
- There is a lot of traffic and not enough infrastructure for the number of vehicles. 95% of the traffic is extremely quiet. The other 5% consists of ambulance sirens, buses, big trucks, revved up cars, impatient drivers beeping their horns, and the most annoying noise polluters are the Harley Davidson motorcycles and other motorbikes that love to race between 10 pm and 3 am on the streets.
- One of the most fascinating things that we have observed is their parking process. Parking lots have designated spots, like in the USA. Once all the spots are filled, cars begin parking in the remaining space. Drivers display their phone numbers in their car windows. We have watched drivers call 6 different drivers to come and move their cars so the driver can get out of the parking lot! They are certainly patient people! It may take an hour before they can get their car out to leave.
- Bus rides are .14 USD each! There are few dedicated bus lanes in the city. If a bus stop is busy with multiple buses, you may have to cross lanes of traffic to get on your bus.
- Gasoline costs approximately $5.63 a gallon.
- Police stand on platforms in the middle of busy intersections to keep vehicles moving through the traffic lights.
- Student police walk around the main square area to answer questions and warn tourists of pick pockets.
- Qualified English teachers are paid $30,000 a year. Engineers may earn $17,640 a year. Mining and exploration industries pay $7,920 a year. Arts and entertainment workers earn $2,100 a year. Women hold the majority of the skilled jobs, including many high-profile CEO positions.
- Mongols regard alcohol as part of their culture and way of life. Alcohol abuse is a major concern. We observed several people who were obviously inebriated. We did not see alcohol sold at any of the Naadaam Festival events. There was a 72-hour ban on alcohol sales the day before, day of, and day after their election. We arrived at the beginning of the 14-day long poplar tree cotton “snow”. The cotton was blowing everywhere, and it truly looked like snow (it did actually snow about 2 inches on the first day of summer). The cotton stuck to our eyelashes, clothes, and I even got it caught in my nose.
- The Mongolians love and respect Mother Earth. There is little litter, and they have street sweepers to catch wrappers that may blow from a trash bin in the wind.
- We see the same issues here as we do in Florida and many other areas around the world. High rise buildings are blocking the gorgeous views of the surrounding area (in this case, green mountains which surround UB) and the urban area is encroaching on farmland and native family housing.
- The women are very stylish, especially career professionals.
- The malls are sophisticated and modern with similar products to those in the USA.
- Credit cards are taken in most places. They use calculators to show you the amount that you owe for an item.
- The city offers a huge variety of restaurants and delicious local and international foods. There are a lot of Korean, Chinese, and Japanese restaurants. We have eaten at Mexican, and Italian restaurants. We enjoyed 99% of our meals. It is common that items on the menu are not available, so we have learned to have a backup option ready. Milk shakes of various flavors are present on almost every menu. Napkins are typically very small, like cocktail napkins. Many restaurants provide hot mesh napkins to wash your hands at the table before eating. Many restaurants have wireless call buttons that you push when you want service at your table. There are KFCs, Pizza Huts, Burger Kings, but NO McDonalds. We were here for the first Subway sandwich shop opening. We talked with the owner who plans to have a total of 5 branches in UB.
- Many women would gather after work to have a beer (my kind of ladies!).
- There are soft serve ice cream stands on every other corner.
- Almost daily we saw wedding parties (wearing typical attire we see in the USA) getting their pictures taken by a photographer, which we learned are taken 1 – 3 months prior to the wedding. We researched traditional marriage in Mongolia and learned that when a couple wants to get married the groom and his father will visit the bride’s parents and offer a “hadag” with gifts. If accepted the parents will choose the wedding date after consulting with a monk or fortune teller to ensure the wedding falls on a favorable date to aide in the success of the marriage. The wedding ceremony in the country is typically different than in UB where many couples marry at the National Wedding Ceremony Palace and then have a party in the evening. Guests typically provide cash or gifts of furniture to the new couple. There are traditional rituals, dancing, music, and singing of traditional songs.
- They love fresh flowers. There are flower shops everywhere and we see people carrying fresh flowers all the time.
- Gyms provide plastic covers for you to put on your shoes to keep the floors clean.
- There are Karaoke places all over the city with private rental rooms where family and friends entertain each other.
- There is a major contrast between modern buildings and the communist era buildings.
4 responses to “Ulaanbaatar Observations”
Good list of interesting points.
Surprised and delighted about the popularity of the Prius. Mostly surprised how they are used on the country “roads.” The Prius never ceases to amaze!
The Mongolians would definitely make great advertisements for the car! We had no idea we could have driven our Prius through shallow rivers, mud, up steep hills, and rocky roads. On our trip into the country two days ago, our driver got stuck in the mud and entered a code which seemed like it put the car into 4-wheel drive!
I always love your observation blogs with so much interesting information. <3
Thank you!