Modern Mongolia

Mongolia is quite rightly known as the land of the great Chinggis Khan and its nomadic culture that defied the passage of time. However, most people know a little about what modern Mongolia is and its urban as well as suburban culture that flourished in the post Communism era. It is due mostly to the introduction of internet and cable TV in mid 1990s, Mongolian people, in particular Mongolian youth, has adopted western way of life and consequently, it permanently altered their way of thinking and their perception of a lot of things. Education has become an integral part of people’s life and willingness to explore the world outside Mongolia has also grown. It seems people used to get told what to do and what to learn in the Communism era whereas now people actually choose what they want to do and freedom of speech is felt throughout country. The city of Ulaanbaatar was once known as the “Grey Capital” by many western tourists. Mongolians witnessed the great transformation of modern city where almost half the populations resides. The city has become somewhat multicultural hub on its own right as the number of foreign residents has increased dramatically. Consequently, you can enjoy mouth watering food from all around the world in many different restaurants and guaranteed to tingle your taste buds with their different spice and flavors. As for pubs and bars, choices are virtually unlimited. Both local as well as imported alcoholic drinks are available in night clubs and countless number of pubs.
As the development of modern city gets underway, naturally it poses both opportunities and challenges for a lot of hard working Mongolians. Mass migrations of ex nomads have overpopulated the city of Ulaanbaatar. The infrastructure of the city is struggling to cope with the overwhelming demand from overpopulation. Roads are heavily congested with cars and there seems to be no strategic city development plan. Also, many ex nomads are having hard time to find employment; therefore, extreme poverty is very common amongst the residents of Ulaanbaatar. It was also observed that the gap between the rich and the poor is very wide.