Modern Mongolia. What is modern Mongolia, and how can it surprise
Time for a change
Even some three years ago, Mongolia could be called a modest pastoral power with an unpretentious standard of living and cheap goods made from animal skin and wool. Today it is growing trade, large investments, construction, tourism, high level consumption, etc. Mongolian wool goes to Europe, Mongolian coal to the USA, China and Canada. This small steppe country with a rich past is of interest to many, including Russia. Only relations between us still cannot improve after the collapse of the USSR.
Mongolia still buys gasoline, food, household goods and electricity from Russia. But our countries were not noticed in strategic cooperation. The special economic zone Altan Bulag on the border, designed to become the second "Manchurian", is still a remote village. There is practically no Russian capital in the numerous Mongolian deposits. And the conflicts over the Selenga basin, which feeds our Baikal, have not been resolved.
For the first time I was in Mongolia in 2009 as part of a delegation of the Buryat government. Then the ambitious attempts of the head of Buryatia Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn to become a mediator in diplomatic relations with the southern neighbor caused a smile. Still, the head of one of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation is not up to the rank to resolve such issues. Later, the Buryat government came to Mongolia more than once in impressive numbers. A position was even invented - Minister for Cooperation with Mongolia with a separate (in addition to Russian embassy) representative office in the capital. She was occupied former minister Agriculture Buryatia Zhargal Batuev. But things, as they say, are still there.
Three years ago, Ulaanbaatar seemed very cold and hostile to me. Having heard the Russian speech, the Mongols became taciturn, even a taxi ride became torture, not to mention the service in restaurants and shops. Apparently, tourism is developing by leaps and bounds. In my current visit of Mongolian hospitality, I noticed much more.
Transformation of the empire
About three million people live in Mongolia. Almost half of them are in the capital - Ulaanbaatar. Over the past decade, migration to the city rural population became massive. People change professions, go into trade, tourism and other service sectors. Yesterday's shepherd or machine operator becomes guide-translator, a milkmaid stands behind the counter of the largest department store in the capital. The country is changing very quickly. Not only internally, but also externally. In Ulaanbaatar, elite quarters, 25-story skyscrapers, shopping and business centers built of glass and concrete. More than 300 thousand cars are registered in the capital alone. To relieve urban traffic jams, the government plans to start building multi-level interchanges and overpasses.
Ten years ago, there was a big loss of livestock in the country, which was comparable to a large-scale financial crisis, since livestock is the basis of the economy. And this crisis ultimately transformed the country. Farmers, having sold the remains of the surviving livestock, went to the city. With the reduction in the number of animals, the price of meat and other agricultural products has risen from "penny" to normal. In search of new ways of development, Mongolia began to actively participate in world politics, primarily to cooperate with the United States and Canada.
Foreign capital is now clearly visible in the elite housing estates. By the end of this year, tens of thousands of meters of housing will be commissioned, moreover, available only to wealthy Mongols or foreign specialists. The cost of one square meter starts from two million tugris or 45 thousand rubles.
In general, it is very strange to compare these two different realities. On the roads of Ulaanbaatar like nowhere else great amount expensive SUVs: Lexus and Land Cruisers. Spas and elite saunas are full even at night. From the abundance of hotels, restaurants and karaoke clubs ripples in the eyes. The rich prefer not to take risks and be treated "by the Russians", as expensive clinics founded by doctors from Russia are called. At the same time, the average salary in the country is about 15-18 thousand rubles.
As ordinary residents say, corruption is to blame for everything. “New Mongols”, as a rule, are the wives, children and grandchildren of a bloated bureaucratic apparatus that does not hesitate to enter into gray financial schemes with foreigners, in fact, selling their homeland for next to nothing. Ex-president Mongolian Enkhbayar is now in prison for similar crime. But people say that one thief just planted another.
National brand
In general, the country is making significant progress in terms of tourism. Over the past three years, a monumental monument-museum Genghis Khan, towering forty meters, and ski resort near the capital. IN in public places not bad WiFi and almost all the waiters speak English. For the first time, a single city taxi appeared on the roads of the capital. Nearly 1,000 white Hyundai Elantra cars were purchased by the Ulaanbaatar City Hall last year and are now catering to a growing influx of tourists.
The Mongols are terribly proud of the products of the national manufactory "Gobi". This is a huge industrial complex on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar. The factory processes the wool of various animals from camels and yaks to the most delicate goat down. Introduction to production of international quality standards, including ISO 9001 dramatically affected the final product. The dressing has become noticeably better and more skillful. This is especially noticeable in Mongolian cashmere.
In the branded store, in addition to blankets, you can buy hats, scarves, leggings, socks, gloves, coats and vests. Perhaps the most beautiful Gobi products are thin colored cashmere stoles. The price for them starts from 200 thousand tugris, which is about 4.5 thousand rubles. A coat in a classic or national style will cost 18-30 thousand rubles. For a blanket made of pure cashmere, you will have to pay about 15 thousand rubles. The prices for Russians who are used to the fact that “everything is cheap in Mongolia” are quite shocking. Although around the world products made from natural wool are even more expensive.
The Mongols themselves, especially the Mongols, are very fond of cashmere, despite its high cost for the domestic market and extreme impracticality. In the rich areas of Ulaanbaatar, you can meet women wrapped from head to toe in this most delicate material.
IN Lately good national brands of leather products appeared in Mongolia. For example, Orchid . Bags of this brand are made of solid leather. In quality, they are inferior to Italian firms, but also in price. Price Orchid starts from 220 thousand tugris, which is about 5 thousand rubles.
There is another one in Mongolia national brand These are 100% wool carpets. IN Soviet time when the fashion for “His Vorseyshchestvo” was widespread, people were ready to pay their entire salary for such a carpet. Today, the demand for this product is much lower. There is a special factory in the city of Erdenet that makes carpets for Mongolia and for export. The quality is good and the prices do not bite. A small carpet costs from 3.5 thousand rubles.
Meat is the head
Meat in Mongolia, like bread in Russia, is a staple food. Meat is eaten boiled, raw, fried, stewed, and even dried like chips. At the same time, truly Mongolian cuisine is quite simple and boring for a tourist, because we come to another country to pamper not only the eyes, but also the stomach. To enjoy Mongolian products in an interesting performance, you can go to a Korean restaurant, there are a lot of them in Ulaanbaatar. Or in a restaurant of Russian or Ukrainian cuisine. Near the central department store there is a "Ukrainian Tavern", which serves stunning dumplings with cherries and fluffy potato pancakes with Mongolian sour cream. There is a good French restaurant, Italian pizzerias, a great variety of American bars and English pubs, there is even one real Dutch bar, the owner of which arrived from Amsterdam, married a Mongolian woman and settled in the homeland of Genghis Khan. The gastronomic choice in Ulaanbaatar is huge, there are not only Chinese restaurants , they, in the wake of anti-Chinese sentiment, were recently closed under the pretext of unsanitary conditions. And yet, in Mongolia you can not order seafood and eggs. Firstly, they do not know how to cook them, and secondly, they do not know how to store them. Outbreaks of salmonellosis and other poisonings from fatal not so rare.
Evgenia Baltatarova, "Number One".
At the mention of Mongolia, the same thing often arises in the imagination of many of us: endless steppes with lonely standing yurts, the impenetrable weather-beaten faces of the local natives, and the image of Genghis Khan, remembered from school history lessons. Some of the older people will probably remember permanent leader the Mongolian communists Tsedenbal, who ruled God knows how long, and the first cosmonaut of this country, Gurragcha.
This was limited for a long time and my ideas about Mongolia.
After a week's stay in this country, they have become immeasurably brighter. At the same time, many stereotypes that had been sitting in my head for decades disappeared.
Which? - my Mongolian colleagues asked me during the trip.
Yes, at least that this is a backward country, cultivating almost feudal relations.
There are still enough traditional manifestations in local life. You will leave Ulaanbaatar - the capital of the country - to the steppe, and here it is - the way of life familiar to the Mongols, preserved from time immemorial. All the same nomads, proudly sitting on horses and peacefully grazing their cattle, which scattered across the vast valleys; all the same yurts, from which a thin jet of smoke curls ...
And at the same time, there is something else in modern Mongolia - which visibly distinguishes it from the one that was even a quarter of a century ago.
Freedom is not a myth at all
Paradoxical though it may seem to some, today's Mongolia is not just gravitating towards democracy - it is taking confident steps in this field.
Is this possible where feudal relations were firmly dominating until the beginning of the 20th century? Imagine yes.
Mongolia is far from full respect for the principles of democracy, providing full-fledged social opportunities for everyone in Mongolia. The general standard of living - which can be seen with the naked eye - is, to put it mildly, low.
The growth of the standard of living in any country begins with the opportunity to publicly discuss all these issues, to take into account different views and approaches, without which it will never be possible to find the optimal path for the development of the country in any sphere of being and spiritual culture.
So. Unlike our country, where only four parliamentary parties sit, the local legislative body of the country - the People's State Khural - is much more diverse in its composition. There are both “right”, and “left”, and “centrists”, which in itself confirms greater pluralism and respect for the interests of its citizens than in modern Russia. Unlike our country, where the opposition is strictly divided into permitted and prohibited, Mongolia shows much greater tolerance for various political views(with the exception of perhaps openly extremist ones) and therefore allows for sharp political debates on the main television channels. Unlike Russia, where the vast majority of newspapers are directly subordinate to the state, the Mongolian law on funds mass media prohibits the existence of mass media controlled by any branch of political power.
No, not everything is so rosy. The Mongols unanimously complain that politicians are putting pressure on the media, hidden from society, that corruption is rampant in the country, that the outflow of national capital abroad and inflation continue. In a word, all this resembles our reality.
Reminds me, but not really. Tagshzhargal, 25-year-old deputy. editor-in-chief of the capital socio-political magazine "Gereg", admitted in our conversation that criticism on the pages of his publication sounds often. Including to the leading politicians and businessmen.
Do not threaten then?
Dissatisfied, of course, there are. But in order to send “black marks” or settle scores just like you do, no, never.
Journalists are not killed or beaten here. I remember with what surprise my colleagues from Mongolian universities looked at me when I told them that over the past 15 years, dozens of crimes against journalists have remained unsolved in our country. To be extremely precise, the point is not set on any of them. “But this works against the reputation of your country,” my interlocutors complained.
As if those in power in our country seriously think about the reputation of Russia ... How naive they are, these Mongols!
According to the press freedom index compiled annually by the international non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders, in 2014 Russia ranked 152nd. Mongolia also does not run cheerfully ahead of the rest, but still its 54th place in the corresponding rating indicates a much more favorable situation than in our country. And if we take into account that only in the last year Mongolia has risen by this indicator by 34 points.
So, in terms of freedom of speech, Mongolia will definitely give a hundred points ahead of our country. As, however, according to the trend general development MASS MEDIA. For three million inhabitants, there are a total of 500 social and political publications, over a hundred TV channels.
You ask how the Mongols digest all this information. Don't know. But they definitely have a choice: what to read, listen to and watch. On the TV screen here you can see discussion programs where opposing opinions clash on the most burning political issues.
When did you last time Have you seen similar stories on our TV? Don't remember? That's it.
Soviet Union, and then Russia for decades taught the Mongols how to live. They helped as much as they could. But at the same time, we somehow did not take into account that another country can successfully study on its own and even get ahead of its teacher in some way.
small country in big world
In Mongolia, I lectured at several universities in Ulaanbaatar at once. Actually, I was invited for this purpose by the School of Journalism, created at the Press Institute of Mongolia, but a week-long stay in this country was accompanied by communication with teachers and students of a number of other universities. They discussed not only the development of the Russian media, but also global processes in modern world, various scientific approaches in the study of journalism and much more, which is somehow connected with the information reality today. The interest in such communication among the Mongolian students-journalists was, without exaggeration, significant - each time the audience gathered from 100 to 300 people.
I liked the way these students behave. At first they were a little shady, but they quickly got used to it and already began to be keenly interested in one or the other, actively asking their questions aloud. There were so many of them at each lecture that the organizers even had to interrupt the discussion so that it would not go beyond the time limit.
What does it say?
Well, probably about the fact that Mongolia - in many respects with the participation younger generation- today it opens a window to the “big world”, striving to move away from traditional ideas about the surrounding life and already in many ways feeling itself a part of the global space. This is reflected in the fact that there is a pronounced interest in the study of foreign languages. And the fact that there are much more foreigners on the streets of Ulaanbaatar compared to the situation even five years ago. And that the Mongolian magazine press appearance already differs little from its counterparts in various European countries. And there are many such examples confirming that this country is actively breaking its own primordial patriarchal consciousness and being.
Remember the parable of the glass of water, when those present wondered whether it was half empty or half full. In my opinion, it is the best fit for the perception of modern Mongolia. If we evaluate its world in general, based on purely external manifestations - living conditions, the quality of roads, the specifics of food, etc. You may not see any changes. But it is worth talking to people and finding out what they think about, how they perceive themselves, and you begin to clearly understand: there are changes.
My Mongolian students, with whom we discussed media issues, are much less likely to go abroad than their Russian peers. But these guys and girls already consciously want to understand what the modern world is like and how they, the Mongols, look in its eyes.
...At one of the lectures, one of the students asked me if a small country can win respect for itself in the modern world, where the language of force and hostility is being actively consolidated today. Or only states that are powerful in their potential have the moral right to “order the music”?
Of course, her question was about Mongolia. What, it would seem, can be noted in the current confrontation with a country with a tiny (especially against the background of its neighbors) population, whose language is completely different from the languages of other countries and whose contribution to the world cultural treasury is negligible compared to the same China and Russia.
Mentally, I applauded these 20-year-olds. How many of their peers living in various countries, up to the lantern such conversations: they live, thinking only about their daily bread. Many of my Mongolian students, to my surprise, turned out to be completely different people than they once imagined: sensitive and not indifferent to realities that seem to have no direct bearing on their daily lives.
... I answered my interlocutors that in the modern world there are no countries large and small, major and not so great. Only by realizing this, it is possible to keep our planet from a catastrophe, when there is nothing left to share. And then, how do you know which country will break into the lead after a while, and which will lag behind. How could it have been assumed back in the mid-1980s that, as it seemed then, the superpowerful Soviet Union would fall apart into separate independent states in a matter of days?
About Russia with respect
The Soviet Union collapsed more than a quarter of a century ago. But in Mongolia they still treat our country with reverence. Not only those who are older, but also very young people are well versed in our history, they know the names of our politicians. All this, of course, comes from their school, where the culture of Russia is still taught more thoroughly than the culture of many other countries. Still a tradition! Through the media, these students seem to be well aware that our country no longer has the previous economic opportunities to help Mongolia as actively as before.
And yet the attitude towards Russia even among the student audience here, not to mention older people, remains open and trusting even today. We are still considered strong country capable of providing concrete support to Mongolia in case of emergency.
Probably, the historical factor plays a special role here. Not a single state in the 20th century played such significant role in the fate of Mongolia, like ours.
And to this day, you will not meet here, perhaps, a single student who would not have heard of Khalkhin Gol, where in the summer of 1939 Soviet troops defeated the Japanese army that had invaded this country. In the 1970s, the Soviet Union built the most powerful mining and processing plant at that time in the city of Erdenet, built entire residential microdistricts in Ulaanbaatar. In the early 80s, another Soyuz spacecraft was launched into orbit, piloted by two crew members, including the Mongolian cosmonaut J. Gurragcha. And how many Mongols were educated in our country - and do not count. This process continues today.
So respect for Russia in Mongolia is enormous, and it is determined by the entire previous period of development of relations between our countries. This "loop" leaves its mark on the present day. In Mongolia, Russian is still taught in schools; TV company "Aist" broadcasts its programs here - also in Russian.
Do you think there will be a prospect for this language in Mongolia? - asked the editor-in-chief Damdisuren Namkhai.
He looked at me incredulously.
Does Mongolia have a choice? Russia is psychologically closer to our people than China. And although one has to reckon with geopolitics, one cannot erase history from memory.
Perhaps that is why the attitude towards me was very trusting. Both among university teachers and students.
Many of those over fifty understand Russian well, they just wanted to talk. However, the students constantly asked something, were interested in life in Russia. Their open attitude towards me reflects the culture of perception of the teacher, inherent in the Mongols from time immemorial. The current, seemingly freer time compared to previous centuries, has not greatly changed the mentality of the Mongols. Young people are still very respectful of their university mentors. well and Russian teacher- due to the history of relations between our countries - in particular.
P.S.
The Mongols are actively thinking about the new realities of the surrounding life and at the same time they carry the usual tradition of relations between people, based on the principle of tolerance towards each other. Do not assume that in this society there is no suspicion, envy and other negativity. Of course I have. However, they do not define modern spirit Mongolia.
I failed to fully understand this country for short term stay in it. But I took the first steps towards this.
Dmitry STROVSKII,
Professor of the Department "Faculty of Journalism"
Ural Federal University
The country of ancient nomads - Mongolia - in last years is rapidly changing. For centuries, the Mongols lived mostly in the wild, leading nomadic image life. However, civilization with all its pluses and minuses came to them. locals from the steppes began to move to the cities. Modern Mongolia- what is she? See the series of photographs "Mongolian (urban) families" by French photographer Lucile Chombart de Lauwe.
1. Mongolia is really changing. "This country is in a 'transitional phase,'" French photographer Lucile Chombart de Lauwe, who has been documenting these changes for several years, wrote on her website. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe).
2. “Changes happen very quickly, they are not connected with the seasons, or with the weather or the habits of the nomads, but with rapid development market economy,” writes the author of these photographs. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
3. The photographs taken by Lucille show the process of transformation and urbanization that is taking place in Mongolia today. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
4. The Mongols for centuries lived in yurts in the vast expanses of the steppe, and not in cramped apartment buildings. For many of them, moving to the cities was not an easy step. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
5. “In my photo project, I focused on the attitude of Mongolian families to their new environment. In other words, I just watched how the Mongols feel and use the new space,” the photographer writes. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
6. Lucile Chombart de Lauwe visited Mongolia for the first time in 2007. Even then, she was amazed at how fast cities grew there. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
7. Interestingly, more than half of the urban population of Mongolia living in cities does not live in high-rise buildings or houses, but in settlements in traditional yurts. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
8. The photographer wrote that she had no problems communicating with the Mongols. She emphasized that it was exceptionally friendly and open people. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
9. Settlement of yurts in the suburbs of one of the Mongolian cities. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
10. Lucille started her photography project in Mongolia in 2011. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
11. In high-rise buildings less than half of the Mongols who settled in the cities live. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
12. The elderly in Mongolia are not accustomed to living in large settlements. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
13. Traditional Mongolian yurt. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
14. Inside one of the yurts visited by photographer Lucile Chombart de Lauwe. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
15. The house of the Mongolian family. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
16. Yurts are often equipped as modern houses. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
17. Lonely yurts are now less and less common in Mongolia. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
18. Impromptu bathroom in a yurt. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
19. More and more young Mongolians are abandoning the traditional way of life of their ancestors and living in cities. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
20. Residential buildings in Mongolia. (Photo: Lucile Chombart de Lauwe). 
In the early 1990s, a social movement for democracy emerged in Mongolia. Forces opposed to the communist regime form the Mongolian Democratic Party(MDP). In March 1990, the leadership of the MPRP resigned, and P. Ochirbat became the new head of state. He begins the policy of reforming the party and political system countries. The 1960 constitution is amended to abolish the dominance of the MPRP in the country. Finally, in July of the same year, the first multi-party parliamentary elections are held. They were won by the MPRP. In September 1990, a coalition government of Mongolia by D. Byambasuren was formed, which included representatives of both the MPRP and the opposition. Market reforms, privatization of land and industry begin. In 1992, the fourth Mongolian constitution was adopted, and the post of president of the country was introduced. P. Ochirbat is elected the first president of Mongolia. At the same time, output Soviet troops from the territory of Mongolia.
In 1996, the democratic coalition won the next elections to the State Great Khural. However, her attempt to reform the economy was not supported by the population, and already in 1997, MPRP candidate N. Bagabandi won the presidential elections. The Democratic coalition failed to get the government working. The situation became even more complicated when in October 1998 one of the leaders of the democratic movement, the candidate for the post of head of government, S. Zorig, was killed. The ruling coalition failed for a long time to choose the head of government - five candidates for this post could not succeed. Only in December 1998, Khural approved E. Narantsatsralt as the head of government. However, in July 1999, he resigned. R. Amarzhargal became the new head of government.
The difficult economic situation in the country led to disappointment in the policy of the ruling coalition, and the MPRP won an unconditional victory in the 2000 parliamentary elections. N. Enkhbayar became the head of the government, who continued the market reforms, but in a milder version. In 2001, MPRP candidate N. Bagabandi was re-elected president of the country for a second term.
The parliamentary elections in 2004 ended with the following results: MPRP - 48.78%, DP - 44.8%. The coalition formed a government headed by T. Elbegdorzh. MPRP candidate N. Enkhbayar became president in the 2005 elections.
The Mongolian nation developed into XII-XIII centuries during the time of Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire. Thus, in the Middle Ages, the processes of nation formation and state formation for the Mongols went in parallel. However, later, during the period of feudalism, the Mongols lose their state unity. The gradual conquest of the Mongol principalities by China intensifies the rift in the Mongol nation: the Mongol lands are divided into western, eastern and southern. The new process of state formation, which began at the beginning of the 20th century, was already significantly behind the one that ended in in general terms nation-building process. The modern Mongolian state managed to unite only the western and eastern Mongolian lands (Outer Mongolia). Southern (Inner Mongolia) - belong to China.
For Mongolia, several positive consequences of the collapse of the USSR can be noted. For the first time in the last three centuries, Mongolia found itself on its own and is not in the orbit of the direct influence of its great neighbors - Russia and China, which concentrate on their own economic reforms and political stability. This situation gives Mongolia a unique opportunity to shape an independent future.
What do most people know about Mongolia? This is a poor backward country. People live in yurts, ride horses and graze cattle. And no one knows what's going on in the big world. Oh well.
The area of the country is simply amazing, although this is only a small part of their ethnic lands and only 4% of the area of the Mongol Empire. Most of this territory looks like a Martian desert, and only an asphalt road, small rivers in the valleys and rare roadside cafes remind you that you are still on Earth.
Ulaanbaatar
And then the Mongolian reality abruptly sets in.
Today Mongolia is one of the most rapidly developing economies in the world, with a standard of living disproportionately higher than the average for Russia. Most of the population lives in cities, urbanization is getting higher and higher every year.
The “Soviet friendship” is long over here, now there is democracy and a full-fledged market economy, without bribes-kickbacks and state regulation, international quality standards and a strong desire to become the second Korea. And no, not North.
At the entrance to the parliament sits like Darth Vader, a no less famous character named Genghis Khan, who at one time united all the Mongolian tribes into a single Mongol Empire, which eventually subjugated a third of all mankind.
lonely among modern architecture stands a typical Soviet project "Russian Drama Theatre".
The shape of the roof of one of the hotels looks like a slide, which would be fun to slide down. If you put a trampoline. ^_^
A rare case when in the gallery contemporary art You can tell from the exhibits which country you are in. Horses are very popular here.
One of characteristic features Mongolian painting - the active use of contrast. Their paintings are almost always bright and have some sort of opposition, be it in subject matter, priorities, or color scheme.
The Gallery of the Union of Mongolian Artists has a workshop where everyone can learn from the masters. Sometimes children are brought here, and sometimes even older people come to learn the trade.
There are a lot of modern office buildings. And no less new ones are being built around, and sites are bought out even at the construction stage, because new corporations appear like mushrooms after rain.
The more surprising among all this look the ancient Buddhist monasteries.
Buddhism came to Mongolia a very long time ago, but spread gradually (but bloodlessly, unlike Christianity). First among famous characters Buddhism began to study Godan, the grandson of Genghis Khan. It took about 300 years before new religion supplanted shamanism.
Of course, it wasn't just that. Like any other religion, accepted as a state religion, this is an exclusively political tool. He came to teach the grandson of Genghis Khan spiritual leader Tibetan Sakya Pandita with his nephew Pagba Lama. They taught Buddhism to the Mongols, and the Mongols taught the Tibetans to hold on to their nation with their teeth in any situation.
Plan of Ulaanbaatar version of 1913, when Mongolia finally gained independence from China. It especially marked the residences and temples of the Bogd Khan, who led the "people's revolution". The Bogdo Khan was so loved that even after the transition to communism, he remained a monarch and only his buildings survived the fire of religious purges inspired by the Soviet Union.
Did I already say that contrasts are their national feature?
Decided to go inside to see what the Mongolian looks like shopping mall. Not bad so.
I really want to support such domestic producers.) Hmm, Meanwhile in Russia.
There are also many different Japanese, Korean and European nishtyakov for sale. A little more expensive, of course, but not critical.
But the Korean staff is, of course, the most impressive. :D
Hello to the Louvre with its pyramid.
Bus stop. By the way, it’s not so easy to deal with transport here: instead of key points (squares, monuments, museums), directions like “Tausand → Myangat-1 → Baga Toorog → Khoroolol-11” are indicated here, and one can only guess whether he is going to central square Genghis Khan to the parliament or will be taken far, far north to the slums.
The National Gallery of Modern Art was located in a Soviet building and there was such a fat woman sitting at the entrance who immediately switched to Russian when she saw my student card. I was already thinking about leaving, but then I saw spurs hanging down through three floors and changed my mind.)
I directly felt how I was squeezed at this point by narrow walls. The case when abstractionism is really catchy.
"My brain after the session."
The Tibetan deities of anger in themselves do not leave indifferent, but here in general there is something that emerges from the darkness and through the contour of the pleading Mongol, brr.
There are a lot of Mongolian restaurants in the city. In short, it's meat, meat, some lettuce, and more meat.
I'm going to see what the outskirts of the city looks like.
Selbe, one of the rivers on which the city stands. In fact, it is mountainous and, therefore, not always like this, just in different time it dries up and then fills up again.
The Mongols have as many as 10 types of writing, some of which are still used today. Cyrillic-based writing is the main one, Latin and vertical Old Mongolian script are used in parallel, the monks also have an alphabetic-syllabic letter “soyombo” (generally some kind of game, similar to a flown encoding, universal writing for Mongolian, Tibetan and Sanskrit). They roll out as best they can.
Gandantegchenlin or simply Gandan. largest Buddhist monastery in better times about 14,000 people lived here. After total repressions against believers, it was closed, but 10 years later it was opened again and until the collapse of the USSR, it was the only functioning church in the country.
Now everything is slowly being restored, many people are returning to the faith. Strictly speaking, no one refused it, it was just not customary to demonstrate it. Now 150 people constantly live, study and work in the monastery (yes, only 1% of the previous number).
Inside central building costs giant statue the bodhisattva of compassion Avalokiteshvara (whose incarnation is considered the Dalai Lama) is the height of a Soviet nine-story building.
Along the walls of the building there are racks with small identical figurines of buddhas, a total of a thousand pieces. I don’t remember why such a quantity is needed, but there is also some kind of stoned symbolism there.
The Buddhist University is not some miserable Sunday school for you, here is a real assembly line of the enlightened! Seriously, they teach sutras, sing and meditate there.
Not far from the monastery there is the Zanabazar Museum of Art, which exhibits a collection of various religious artifacts made so technically that they decided to classify them as art objects. For example, this is actually not a picture, it is an embroidery of unrealistic accuracy.
It seems to me, or did this bodhisattva refuse to go into nirvana at all for the sake of saving humanity? -_-
However, these deities generally have their own atmosphere.
Many places in the city center have lanes for the blind. There are also bike paths for pedestrians. >_<
Nothing unusual, just a Mongolian inch with a lollipop sitting on a sunflower tree.
Expensive club houses in a new area of the city. On the other hand, the perimeter is fenced, and near the private sector - also with barbed wire.
A shopping center on the outskirts of the city, literally immediately behind which the mountains begin.
Great residence of the Bogd Khan.
The inside is no less beautiful. The ground floor is open to the public and filled with purely religious art, which he adored. Upstairs are apartments and reception rooms.
There are several other buildings around, some for meditation, some for meetings, some for servants.
Everything is decorated in the same style.
There is especially a lot of their traditional embroidery. I have no idea how they managed to make it so accurate, you can even see the faces on the necklace of demon heads.
Winter residence. Well, still, Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital in the world, in winter the temperature reaches -40 ° C.
Among the monotonous household items, a European carriage catches the eye. It turned out to be a personal gift from the Russian Tsar.
New residential complex. The apartments are still only for sale, and some shops and cafes are already working downstairs.
Every Mongolian city has a large statue of Buddha.
Cool facade of the shopping center.
Nothing inside either. Judging by the design, at first it was planned to make separate boutique rooms à la department store, but then they decided to make an open space and replaced all the walls with glass. It turned out even nicer than expected.
On one of the hills in the south of the city, during the times of socialism, they made an observation platform and dedicated it to the joint actions of the Soviet and Mongolian armies. First, the Russians helped to defend independence from China, and then the Mongols helped to defeat Germany. Friendship is magic.
But the view from here is really good. It also shows how vast the area is occupied by the poor private sector in the north.
However, even not far from the center there are small ghettos where people still live in yurts, without water and gas, except that they conduct electricity there by connecting to the general power grid. Fortunately, every year there are more and more residential buildings, and there are fewer and fewer of them.
Another river, the Dund, supplies the city with water all year round.
Mongolian national dish "mountain of meat". Nothing extra.
And I could eat borscht.)
“Oh, cool, Soviet department store,” I thought.
I went to the supermarket downstairs. Ukrainian "Roshen" even got here.
And inside something is not a department store at all. And with such a pace, soon only our archaic associations will remain from the Soviet past in this country.
With such a shaky picture of the world, I went back to Russia.
