Category Archives: Curios

Camping Nomads

By Julian Dierkes Historically, Mongolians are a nation of “campers”. While perhaps less than a third of them still are mobile pastoralists, and even they are less mobile than they once were, nomadism and the movable home still play large … Continue reading

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Triggers for Upheaval: Yes, But It Depends

By Mendee Jargalsaikhan I agree with Julian on the point that Mongolia is not a violence-free state like any others, but I would make a distinction between rioting, which is a momentary violent public disturbance, and public demonstrations or mass protests. … Continue reading

Posted in Corruption, Human Rights, Inequality, Kazakhs, Nationalism, Uncategorized, Wrestling, Younger Mongolians | Tagged | Leave a comment

Reducing Garbage by Re-establishing Bowl Use

By Julian Dierkes In recent workshops we asked participants to list the most pressing policy challenges that Mongolia faced. A relatively small number of problems were listed repeatedly, by participants based in Ulaanbaatar as well as those from other aimags. … Continue reading

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Inside Policy Workshops

By Julian Dierkes This will be very familiar to Mongolian readers, but perhaps of more interest to non-Mongolian readers, or those who have not travelled in the countryside beyond tourism. My experience comes from election observation on the one hand, … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Curios, Development | Tagged | 1 Comment

New to Ulaanbaatar August 2018

By Julian Dierkes I’ve been keeping a list of things that are arriving to/disappearing from central Ulaanbaatar: October 2017 | June 2017 | May 2016 | December 2015 | May 2015 | May 2014 | October 2013. More informal versions of these observations also appear in the /ulaanbaatar/change/ category. I’ve copied the … Continue reading

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Guest Post: Grappling with Wrestling Titles

By Zorigtkhuu B National wrestling is considered a Mongolian precious cultural heritage. It holds the Guinness World Record that involved 6,002 wrestlers during the largest Mongolian wrestling tournament which was organized  on 17th September. 2011. Wrestlers have been entertaining the … Continue reading

Posted in Naadam, Wrestling, Zorigtkhuu Bat-Erdene | Leave a comment

What to Call a Trump-Kim Summit?

By Julian Dierkes Yes, an actual meeting between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump still seems somewhat unlikely, and the chance that it would happen in Ulaanbaatar is even smaller. But if it did happen … there are some plans to … Continue reading

Posted in Curios, Mongolia and ..., North Korea, Tourism, Ulaanbaatar, United States | Tagged | Leave a comment

Sounds of a Ger

By Julian Dierkes For any visitor to Mongolia who has the chance to sleep in a ger, that is probably a highlight. I enjoy it every time I have a chance. One of the aspects that often makes it a … Continue reading

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Cars in Mongolia

By Julian Dierkes Our image of Mongolia may be dominated by horses as a part of the landscape, but also as a mode of transport. But, of course, motorized transport is very common place today. Development Stages and Motorization I … Continue reading

Posted in Change, Change, Countryside, Curios, Development, Social Change, Social Issues, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment

Where did the Conspiracy Conspiracy Come From?

By Julian Dierkes Mongolia is not unique in the presence of conspiracy theories, nor in the presence of events and factors in those events that may lend themselves to conspiracy theories. Yet, in my experience, conspiracy theories have become dominant … Continue reading

Posted in Corruption, Curios, History, Party Politics, Politics, Pop Culture, Social Issues, Social Media | Tagged | 1 Comment

New to Ulaanbaatar October 2017

By Julian Dierkes I’ve been keeping a list of things that are arriving to/disappearing from central Ulaanbaatar: June 2017 | May 2016 | December 2015 | May 2015 | May 2014 | October 2013. More informal versions of these observations also appear in the /ulaanbaatar/change/ category. I’ve copied the 2014-16 … Continue reading

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Change in Countryside – October 2017

By Julian Dierkes This is Post #500 for our Blog! What a milestone, we’ll have to commemorate our achievement soon. For some years, I have now taken notes about visible changes in Ulaanbaatar on my periodic visits. This year, I’ve … Continue reading

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Mongolian Presence in Germany

By Julian Dierkes I spent the past year on a research leave from the University of British Columbia in Berlin, Germany, at the Free University’s Graduate School of East Asian Studies. I found Mongolia to be much more visible in … Continue reading

Posted in Canada, Cinema, Curios, Diaspora, Germany, Mongolian Diaspora, Pop Culture | Tagged | Leave a comment

New to Ulaanbaatar June 2017

By Julian Dierkes I’ve been keeping a list of things that are arriving to/disappearing from central Ulaanbaatar: May 2016 | December 2015 | May 2015 | May 2014 | October 2013. More informal versions of these observations also appear in … Continue reading

Posted in Change, Curios, Social Change, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment

Change in the Countryside – June 2017

By Julian Dierkes For some years, I have now taken notes about visible changes in Ulaanbaatar on my periodic visits. In part this is note-taking for my own self, because there are so many things that I don’t remember already … Continue reading

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