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

　
The capital of Mongolia. With an area of 1,359 square kilometers, about 1.7 million people, roughly half the total population, live here.
　The city's history began with the founding of a Lamaist temple in 1639, and in 2014 it marked its 385th anniversary.
　A basin surrounded by mountains on all sides, at an elevation of 1,351 m, with average temperatures of 17.0°C in July and −26.1°C in January, and annual average precipitation of 233 mm mostly concentrated in summer.
A big city on the steppe where modern high-rise housing and factories coexist with traditional portable gers. The grand steppe spreads out in the suburbs, and nomads lead the traditional nomadic life. Also, from 2014, as transport from Japan, direct flights from April to October operate seven times a week from Narita, Haneda and Kansai Airport to Ulaanbaatar. It is the political and economic center of Mongolia in name and in fact, and a major relay point on the international railway from China to Russia. Main industries are minerals, meat processing and dairy.

　In the 16th century this area came to be ruled by the Khalkha tribes of the Mongols, who make up the majority of today's Mongolia, and in the 17th century it became the domain of the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, the living Buddha of Tibetan Buddhism revered by the Khalkha people.
The Jebtsundamba Khutuktu at first lived in a ger (tent) temple and led a nomadic life moving seasonally with his disciples and subjects, and the place where the Khutuktu's ger was set up became a moving town called Ikh Khuree. Later the Khutuktu gave up the moving life and set up a monastery at the site of present-day Ulaanbaatar and settled, so disciples' monasteries and pilgrims gathered around it, forming a temple town, which developed into almost the only city in Outer Mongolia (present-day Mongolia).
　The Qing dynasty, which ruled the Mongolian plateau, transcribed Khuree in Chinese characters and called the town "Kulun", and set up a Kulun resident minister as an outpost to control the Khalkha tribes of Outer Mongolia. In the 19th century Han Chinese merchants settled around the Kulun resident minister and Russians also came to visit, making it the political, economic and transport center of Outer Mongolia.
When the Xinhai Revolution broke out in the Qing in 1911, the Khalkha tribes of Outer Mongolia raised the Jebtsundamba as emperor (Bogd Khan) and declared independence, and Khuree, where he resided, became the capital. After the Mongolian People's Republic was established in 1924, the city name was changed from Khuree to Ulaanbaatar, meaning "Red Hero" in Mongolian (the Mongolian pronunciation is closer to "Ulaanbaatar", but "Ulan Bator" has become established as the Japanese geographic term), and so it remains today.

It is Mongolia's biggest city, but like a small Japanese town, with no expressways.
　Ulaanbaatar is small, but there is a lot to see. A must-see once you have come to Mongolia is the Mongolian Circus. The Mongolian Circus in the center of Ulaanbaatar is, I think, one of the prides of the Mongolian people. Another must-see in the center of Ulaanbaatar is the museums. The many museums with their long history each have unique characteristics. By visiting the museums you can learn about Mongolia's long history. What I recommend for those who want to shop in Mongolia is Mongolian cashmere products. They are high quality and indispensable for getting through Mongolia's cold winters.
　When traveling abroad, the cuisine of the country is indispensable. In Mongolia too, shops and restaurants for tourists where you can taste the traditional dishes of the nomadic people have appeared, making it ever more convenient. Please come to Ulaanbaatar.

 　　　　　　　Please click.

Back to top of page