UlaanbaatarУлаанбаатар

Ulaanbaatar began as a moving monastery. In 1639 the Mongol Buddhists chose a young monk, Zanabazar, as the first Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, the highest Buddhist figure in Mongolia, and his camp, called Örgöö, meaning the palace or the residence, travelled across the steppe. It moved dozens of times, following grass and water, until it settled in 1778 near the Tuul River, in a valley under the sacred mountain Bogd Khan Uul. The site was known as Ikh Khüree, the Great Monastery, and Russians and Europeans called it Urga.

For a century and a half the town was more a religious and trading centre than a capital. Caravans of tea, silk and silver came up from China and Siberia, and thousands of monks lived in felt tents and wooden compounds around the temples. Then, in 1911, when the Qing dynasty collapsed, the eighth Jebtsundamba Khutuktu was proclaimed the Bogd Khan, the emperor of a Mongolia that had declared independence. His winter palace, built about 1905 to 1908, still stands in the south of the city.

Independence was fragile. China occupied the city in 1919, a Russian White Army officer took it in 1921, and later that year Mongolian revolutionaries and the Red Army drove him out. The Bogd Khan stayed on as a figurehead until he died in 1924. That year the People's Republic was declared, and the city took the name Ulaanbaatar, Red Hero, after the revolutionary leader Damdin Sükhbaatar, who had died the year before.

Under Soviet influence the town changed quickly. Wide avenues, apartment blocks, a railway, factories and a central square replaced the old monastery quarter. Most of the roughly 700 monasteries in Mongolia were destroyed, and thousands of monks were killed in the purges of the late 1930s. Gandan was allowed to reopen in the 1940s as a single showpiece for visitors.

The other big turn came in 1990. After the Soviet bloc weakened, crowds gathered on Sukhbaatar Square, and a peaceful democratic movement, including hunger strikers, pushed the one-party government to open up. A new constitution followed in 1992, and the city reshaped itself again, with private businesses, new towers, ger districts swelling on the hillsides, and, in 2021, a new international airport 50 km to the south.

For a visitor, this history explains the layout. The monastery hill in the north-west, the Soviet-planned centre, the palace to the south and the memorial on Zaisan hill are separate layers that sit a few kilometres apart. That is why the sights are best planned by cluster, with a car between them.

Tibetan Buddhism reached Mongolia in waves, and by the 17th century it was the state religion. Zanabazar (1635–1723) was the first great figure: a monk, political leader, inventor of the Soyombo script and one of the finest sculptors in Asian history. His gilded bronze figures are among the most treasured objects in the country, and the fine arts museum that carries his name holds Buddhist art from across Mongolia.

Gandan Monastery, founded in 1838, is the working centre of Mongolian Buddhism today. Its full name, Gandantegchinlen, is often translated as the great place of complete joy. Its main hall is the place to be in the morning, when monks gather for prayers, chanting in low, resonant voices as visitors stand at the back. In the 1930s the communist government closed almost every monastery, and Gandan was one of the very few kept open, mostly for show. After 1990 it revived, and it now trains hundreds of monks.

The most visible object is the 26.5-metre standing Buddha, Migjid Janraisig, in the hall of the same name. The original, built in 1911 and covered with gold and silver, was taken apart and melted for its metal in the late 1930s. A replacement was made in the 1990s with public donations, and a large crowd came to see it raised. It is a good reminder that this is a religion that was almost erased and then rebuilt in a single generation.

Choijin Lama Temple, in the centre, has a different story. It was built between 1904 and 1908 for Luvsankhaidav, the State Oracle and brother of the Bogd Khan, and it is a compact set of Chinese-style wooden temples. It survived the purges because it was turned into a museum in the early 1940s, and so today it preserves masks, costumes, thangkas and ritual objects from a time when the city had hundreds of temples.

How to visit is simple. Dress covered, shoulders and knees, take your hat off indoors, walk clockwise round temples and prayer wheels, and ask before photographing monks or inside halls. Do not touch sacred objects, and step over, not on, thresholds. Ticket prices are modest, but a photo permit is often extra. In winter, halls can be cold and the yards icy, so wear grip footwear.

For an hour, sit in the courtyard, listen and watch the pigeons and the locals turning the prayer wheels. That gives more sense of how the religion is lived than any exhibit can, and it leaves you ready for the museums.

The centre of Ulaanbaatar is the product of planning. Starting in the 1930s and especially after the Second World War, Soviet architects laid out a grid with a wide central avenue, a large square and blocks of flats, with Mongolian engineers and workers building it. Peace Avenue, the main east–west road, still carries most of the traffic, and the flat-faced buildings along it are typical of the period.

Sukhbaatar Square is the heart of it. It is named after Damdin Sükhbaatar, the revolutionary leader whose equestrian statue stands in the middle. On the north side, the Government Palace has a large seated statue of Chinggis Khaan, flanked by two of his successors, at the top of a stairway. That statue was put up in 2006, when the country celebrated the 800th anniversary of the founding of the Mongol state; the site had held a mausoleum of two communist leaders until 2005. The change of monument is a snapshot of how the city rewrote its story after 1990.

You can see the same shift in the names. Chinggis Khaan, once discouraged as a nationalist symbol, is now everywhere: the airport, a beer, a vodka, the hotel chains and the statue complex east of the city. The square is often called Chinggis Square today, though most maps and most locals still say Sukhbaatar.

Zaisan Memorial, on a hill south of the centre, is another Soviet-era layer. It was built in 1971 to honour Soviet soldiers who died in the Second World War, and a large circular mural shows scenes of the friendship between the two countries. About 300 steps lead to the terrace, and the view over the valley, the city and the mountains is the reason people go. It is best on a clear late afternoon, and poor in smog, ice or a cold wind.

The National Museum of Mongolia, near the square, tells the longer story, from Stone Age tools to the Mongol Empire and the 20th century. It is a good first indoor stop, clear and well laid out, with costumes, bronzes and reconstructions.

A quick practical note: the centre looks compact on a map, but streets are wide, traffic is heavy, and pavements are uneven and icy for months. Cross with care, allow more time than you think, and use a car for anything beyond the square and its side streets.

About half of Mongolia's people live in the capital, but the country's idea of itself still comes from the steppe. Herding families move their animals through the seasons, and the round felt tent, the ger, is still the standard home. On the hills around Ulaanbaatar, ger districts have grown as families arrived from the countryside, often keeping a ger in the yard next to a small wooden house.

A ger is built on a wooden lattice of folding walls, a door frame, and a roof ring supported by poles, all covered in layers of felt and canvas. It can be taken down and packed in an hour or two. The layout follows a set pattern: the door faces south, the stove is in the centre, the place of honour is opposite the door at the back, and the men's and women's sides are on opposite halves. Guests should not step on the threshold, lean on the support poles or whistle inside.

Herders talk about five animals: horses, camels, cattle (including yaks), sheep and goats. Food follows the animals. In winter, meat is the base of the diet, and in summer the diet shifts to dairy, called white foods. Airag, fermented mare's milk, is the classic summer drink. Aaruul, dried curd, is a chewy, sour snack. Suutei tsai, salty milk tea, appears in every home and every café.

In the city, you can see all of this in a simple meal. A guanz is a canteen where you eat buuz, steamed dumplings, or khuushuur, fried pastries filled with meat, for a few thousand tögrög. Tsuivan is hand-cut noodles stir-fried with meat. Khorkhog is a festive mutton dish cooked in a pot with hot stones, and in restaurants it is usually served by weight. Mongolian barbecue, the stir-fry served in many countries, was in fact invented outside Mongolia; here the typical meal is boiled or steamed, not grilled.

For a visitor, the best way to meet nomad life is to leave the city. A night in a ger camp in Terelj, about two hours away, gives you tea, meals, horses and a huge sky. Choose a licensed operator, ask what is included, and go between May and September, since many camps close in the cold.

Even without leaving, you can watch the culture in small ways. Notice that people hand things over with the right hand or both hands, that a bowl of tea or airag is meant to be accepted, and that dried curd and biscuits are placed on the table for guests.

Naadam, held on 11 to 13 July, is the biggest festival in Mongolia, and the reason beds and cars sell out weeks ahead. The word means games. The Eriin Gurvan Naadam, the three manly games, are wrestling, archery and horse racing, and they trace back centuries. UNESCO recognised Naadam as an intangible cultural heritage in 2010.

Wrestling, called bökh, is the centrepiece. Hundreds of wrestlers start in single elimination, and there are no weight classes and no time limits. A wrestler loses when any part of the body above the knee, or an elbow, touches the ground. The costume is a tight open-chested vest and briefs, plus heavy boots and a pointed hat, and winners do an eagle dance, arms spread, around the flag. The champions get titles such as Falcon and Elephant, and the most successful become national celebrities.

Archery is shot at wooden targets on the ground, by men and women, with short bows. Horse racing takes place on open grassland outside the city, and the jockeys are children between about five and thirteen, riding without saddles over distances of 15 to 30 km. The winners are praised in songs. The opening ceremony and the wrestling are in the National Sports Stadium in the city, and tickets should be bought early; the races are a car ride away, and a hired driver is easiest.

Naadam is not only a show. It is a public holiday, and families visit each other, eat khuushuur from stalls and drink milk tea and vodka. The city fills with people in deel, the traditional long coat, and children in bright costumes. If you come, book everything early, expect crowds and rain, and dress for a cold morning and a warmer afternoon.

The other big holiday is Tsagaan Sar, the White Month, the lunar new year, which falls in January or February. It is a family holiday, and, like Christmas in some countries, most shops and restaurants close for two or three days. People visit elders in order of age, greet them with a ritual gesture, called zolgokh, eat piles of buuz, and exchange gifts. Book food and transport ahead, and do not plan museums.

Other dates are quieter: Children's Day on 1 June, Chinggis Khaan's birthday in the autumn, Independence Day on 29 December, and a fireworks show on New Year's Eve. Check the year's date before you build a trip around any of them.

A little under half of Mongolia's 3.5 million people live in Ulaanbaatar, in a valley built for a fraction of that. The result is congestion. Cars, trucks and buses pack the main roads, and the peak hours, roughly 07:30–09:30 and 17:00–20:00, can triple a journey. There is no metro, and taxis, ride-hailing cars and a crowded bus network do the work. This is why our plans put a cluster in the morning, a cluster in the late afternoon, and a rest in between.

The second big issue is air. From about November to February, coal and wood smoke from ger-district stoves and coal-fired plants pours into the valley, and cold air traps it. The city has repeatedly ranked among the worst capitals in the world for fine particles in winter. The government has restricted raw coal and promoted cleaner fuels and electric heating, and the air has improved on some measures, but it is still a serious health issue. If you visit in winter, check an air-quality app, carry a good mask, and choose a hotel with a purifier.

The cold itself is a defining feature. Ulaanbaatar is sometimes described as the coldest capital city in the world, with January highs around −16 °C and lows of −26 °C. Summer is short, with highs around 22 to 24 °C, and July can bring storms. The best months for a first visit are late May to September, though the high season is also the most expensive.

Newer parts of the city show a different side. The Blue Sky Tower and other glass towers have changed the skyline, cafés and Korean restaurants have opened around Seoul Street, malls and craft-beer bars have appeared, and the new Chinggis Khaan International Airport, opened in 2021 about 50 km south of the city, has replaced the older airport on the edge of the city. The road to it can be slow, so plan three to four hours before an international flight.

For visitors, the city works best in short, planned bursts. Do one cluster, eat well, rest in a warm café or hotel, and use the countryside for the rest of the trip. Set your expectations accordingly: Ulaanbaatar is not a walkable, pretty capital, but it is an interesting, friendly and unfamiliar one, and a good introduction to the culture before the steppe.

On the practical side, use a booked car or app after dark, carry small notes, keep bags in front in crowds, and check opening hours the day before. Do not photograph soldiers, police or government buildings, and do not drink tap water.