Mongolia tours with free WiFi during your trip – leave it to a local specialist travel company.　

* Prices, times, number of services and opening hours shown are guidelines. They may change, so please ask us for the latest information.

Getting Around Choibalsan

A paved road links the airport and the city, and you can travel by taxi. Approaching the town from Ulaanbaatar by long-distance bus, you see a big sign with the city name. After passing the museum and the Mongolian Warriors Monument, you enter the urban area. The long-distance bus stop is slightly east of the zakh (market). The zakh has everything from food and daily goods to electrical appliances and tools, and is crowded. Buses to nearby villages and to China (Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region) also leave from the zakh. The center has supermarkets, restaurants, canteens, nightclubs and karaoke, and every corner of the center can be covered on foot.

Dornod Provincial Museum (Дорнод аймгийн музей)

Founded in 1950 as a local research institute, it became the provincial museum in 1999. Inside it is divided into four: history, an art gallery, natural history, and an exhibition room on the Nomonhan Incident (Battle of Khalkhin Gol) and the Soviet commander Zhukov. In the history exhibition room, the exhibit recreating Choibalsan's office and the introduction of the achievements of the person who ruled this land in the mid-19th century are interesting, and displays of eastern Mongol tribes such as the Barga, Buryat and Uzemchin are also rich. The gallery shows many works by painters from Dornod Province.

Mongolian Warriors Monument (Монгол дайчдын хөшөө)

An arch-shaped monument 24 m high, completed in 1989 for the 50th anniversary of the Nomonhan Incident (Battle of Khalkhin Gol). In the center is a statue of a Mongolian cavalryman charging bravely, and the themes of the mosaics around it are "departure for war," "victory" and "peace." It is distinctive that neither Japanese nor Soviet soldiers are depicted. It stands on a small hill with a view over the town.

Khalkhgol (Халхгол) — A Place to Encounter History You Should Know

Khalkh River Victory Monument (Victory Monument at Hamar Pass)

A victory monument built in 1984 at Hamar Pass, where the fiercest fighting of the 1939 Nomonhan Incident took place. It is 50 m high. In front of the central pillar are Mongolian and Soviet soldiers, and on the back a woman in Mongolian national dress, expressing the friendly relations between the two countries. On both wings at the front are cavalry, infantry, tanks and fighter planes of the time, conveying the fierce fighting realistically. It expresses how many sacrifices today's peace was won through. It is on a hill overlooking the center of Khalkhgol District.

Khalkh River Victory Museum (Ялалт музей)

Displays a huge amount of material on the Nomonhan Incident. You can learn in detail how the war started and what happened during the fighting, and reading leaflets urging surrender, you can sense the inner conflict of the Mongolians who lived on both sides of the border. For a fee, you can also ask for a guide around the museum. Accommodation is attached. The exterior was renovated in 2019.

Lake Buir (Буйр нуур)

Mongolia's fifth largest freshwater lake. A rare lake with a national border running across the water. A fishing base was set up in 1954 and developed greatly, but today only about 20 households fish on a small scale. There are many tourist camps on the lakeshore.

Ikh Burkhant Stone Statue Park (Их бурхант чулуун бурханы цогцолбор)

Stone statue about 35 km north of the center of Khalkhgol. The eight hands of the Avalokiteshvara statue are said to protect the land from eight disasters and evils, and have drawn worship. It was destroyed in the socialist era, but restoration began in 1990, and since its reconstruction in 1997 it has again drawn worship as the Buddha protecting this land.

A History Not to Be Forgotten in Japan–Mongolia Relations

Introduction

From May to September 1939, near the border between Mongolia and Manchukuo, a battle essential to talking about Japan–Mongolia relations was fought. It is hardly spoken of in Japan, but in Mongolia it is a war every citizen knows. In 2024 a ceremony for the 85th anniversary of the victory was held.

The Border Between the Khalkha and the Barga

The area around the Khalkh River, the stage of the fighting, was home to two tribes among the Mongol people, the Khalkha and the Barga. In 1734 the Qing dynasty drew the boundary between the Khalkha and the Barga about 15 km east of the Khalkh River (Khalkha to the west of the line, Barga to the east). The Khalkha were dissatisfied with this decision, claimed the Khalkh River was the boundary, and repeatedly caused border disputes. The Qing dynasty, and the Republic of China that succeeded it, consistently rejected the Barga side's claim.

However, when Japan, which had caused the Manchurian Incident in 1931, established Manchukuo, the Barga lands became territory of Manchukuo. Japan, knowing little of the historical background of the border, accepted the Barga side's claim as it was and came to insist that the Khalkh River was the border. In this way border disputes over the Khalkh River between Mongolia and Manchukuo became frequent.

A War Called an "Incident"

At that time Mongolia was under strong Soviet influence, and the Soviet Union was in fierce confrontation with Japan. So the dispute between Mongolia and Manchukuo quickly spread into a dispute between the Soviet Union and Japan. The "First Nomonhan Incident" in May was a small-scale clash between the allied Soviet-Mongolian forces and the allied Japanese-Manchukuo forces. The "Second Nomonhan Incident," which began in June, grew to a scale that could effectively be called a war, with nearly 100,000 troops from both sides colliding, and in the fighting from May to September the Japanese-Manchukuo forces suffered heavy losses.

In this way the border dispute became the Nomonhan Incident = the Battle of Khalkhin Gol.

The Battle Seen from Japan, the Battle Seen from Mongolia

In Japan the "Nomonhan Incident" is regarded as a border dispute, and is often discussed as a typical example of the failures of Japanese organizations, such as the temperature gap between the field and the top, neglect of intelligence gathering and unclear responsibility for failure. But the position of the "Battle of Khalkhin Gol" for Mongolia is entirely different.

For Mongolia, the Battle of Khalkhin Gol is regarded as a memorable war of defense of the homeland in which, with Soviet help, an invasion of its own territory was repelled. Under the slogan "For the fatherland," the whole nation built a system of cooperation with the war, and campaigns such as voluntarily extending working hours, donating overtime pay, donating livestock and helping transport supplies were carried out nationwide. What was a "skirmish on the frontier" to the mighty Japan and Soviet Union was, for small and poor Mongolia, a great war using the full strength of the nation. That is why the Battle of Khalkhin Gol is an unforgettable national memory for Mongolians.

Topics Connected to the Present (reference)

In 2024, when the ceremony for the 85th anniversary of the victory was held, the Russian president's invitation became a topic. For points related to the international situation, please decide whether to state the date clearly or not include them.