What part of Mongolia are you staying in?

[question from Theo, Georgia, Anna, Jake, Katie and Victoria]

I am living in the capital city of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar. Here are a few interesting things about Ulaanbaatar:

*1.1 million people live in the city, which is almost half the entire population of Mongolia! Some of these people live in ordinary houses and flats, whilst others live on the outskirts of the city in ger tents.

*Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital city in the world, with temperatures often reaching -35C in January!

*Ulaanbaatar means “Red Hero”.

*The best thing about Ulaanbaatar: There are lots of things to do. The city is full of museums, shops and cafes, and even has a cinema. This is very different to most of Mongolia, where most towns only have a few shops, and if you’re very lucky a sports centre. Life outside of Ulaanbaatar is a lot more quiet and basic.

*The worst thing about Ulaanbaatar: the city’s air is quite polluted. This is partly because of the large amount of cars in the city. However, the smoke around Ulaanbaatar is also a result of some of the things people in Mongolia use to keep warm. Those lucky enough to have a house will be using electrical heating to keep warm – the big power plants nearby supply this electricity, but create a lot of smoke. The Mongolians who live in the ger tents burn a lot of coal to keep their tents warm. This also creates a lot of smoke. As Ulaanbaatar is surrounded by four mountains, this traps the smoke in, so the city’s air is quite dirty (cough, cough!).