Ulaanbaatar, as the capital of Mongolia, is a bit similar to the third-tier cities in China. It has everything a modern city should have, such as shopping malls, hypermarkets, nightclubs and bars, such as traffic jams and pollution.

The wind blows the grass and sees the cattle and sheep, and Ulaanbaatar is blocked into a dog, which is one of SC Johnson's deepest impressions of Ulaanbaatar. The traffic congestion is really serious, the roads are too narrow, and they are basically two-lane, and the main roads of the city are only two-way four-lane.

The number of private cars is high, and due to the extremely low tariffs, almost every family has a car, or even more than one. I heard that the price of buying a car here is about half of that in China, and the second-hand car is only 2,000 US dollars.

Miraculously, the import of second-hand cars is allowed, resulting in left-hand drive cars and right-hand drive cars in parallel, further increasing the traffic pressure. Today, Ulaanbaatar is the symbol of Mongolia and the most important central city. Half of the country's population is concentrated here.

The difference between rich and poor is clear, south of the Tula River are rich areas with international schools, the central and eastern parts are inhabited by ordinary citizens and white-collar workers, the west is industrial and development zones, and the northern part is shantytowns.

With the progress of urbanization, more and more herders have come to live in the city, but they cannot afford to buy a house, so they can only build their own tent yurts, and over time the shantytowns in the north of the city are characterized.

In addition to the valley topography, high population density and large number of vehicles, an important reason is that as the coldest capital in the world, the residents of shantytowns will burn coal fires to keep warm in winter.

Although the state has implemented free electricity for them since this year, the high cost of electric heating system has made it impossible for them to afford it, so they can only continue to burn coal. Perhaps the only advantage of shanty towns is that they are cooler in summer than in urban areas.

It was snowing, and the shanty towns in the snow were white and colorful, and they looked even more beautiful. But only people living in shantytowns know how much they don't want snow.

In supermarkets, you often see this huge pot in the most conspicuous position, which should be the big pot used by Mongolian families to cook mutton, bold and domineering. There are many dairy products sold along the street, such as the mare's milk wine, which is the favorite drink of Mongolians.

Ulaanbaatar's previous name was Grand Kulen, which means Great Temple. Once it was just a river valley grassland, but later, a large temple was built on the grassland, Ganden Monastery.

Since it is a big temple, of course everything is big, for example, it is the largest temple in Mongolia, it is the temple with the most incense, and there is the largest four-armed statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva. The statue was once cast iron and is now cement-gilded.

At the time of attachment to the Soviet Union, in order to support the Soviet Union in World War II, this huge statue of Guanyin was destroyed and melted into bullets and used on the battlefield of the Soviet army. So the Soviet Union defeated Germany because the bullets blessed by the Buddha were a little more powerful?

After the end of the Soviet era, the Mongolian people donated money and went to the river to pull stones and mud to recast the statue, but the material was changed to a cement inner tube with a gilded appearance.

Hundreds of years have passed, and until now, the incense of Ganden Monastery is still vigorous. On the afternoon of my visit, Ulaanbaatar had just cooled down and there was a little light snow, but the Ganden Monastery was still bustling with people, and even couples who had come to take wedding photos.

The monks in front of the Buddha hall are focused and quiet, and the believers who kowtow in front of the stupa have full eyes and firm movements, but the most beautiful moment is just to sit in a corner of the Buddhist temple and watch the sunset come and go in the clouds; a few lamas talk and laugh on the road; two pigeons under the corner of the eaves, taking care of themselves and frolicking; tourists and believers return, the incense is scattered, and a few people linger and look.

There is also a big Ao Bao behind Zhai Mountain. Ao Bao is not a yurt, but a bit similar to the Mani pile in Tibet, which is a symbol of sacrifice and blessing.

There is also an ancient folk legend about Aobao: there is a spirit on the grassland. Stone is no exception. Stones like to climb to high places, and the top of the mountain is the highest place on the earth. It takes 3,000 years for the stone to climb on its own. In order to help the stone fulfill this wish, people pick up the stones under their feet and pile them on the top of the mountain, calling it Ao Bao.

Stone saves 3,000 years of vicissitudes of change, and the heart is happy. As a token of appreciation, people go around the Ao Bao clockwise and pile a small stone on top of it, which can be exchanged for a wish that will be fulfilled.

Descending from Zhai Mountain, a few steps north is the Tula River, the dividing line of Ulaanbaatar's wealthy district.

South of the Tula River, the Bogda Khan Mountains, said to be the world's first nature reserve, are now home to Ulaanbaatar's wealthy because of their steep and beautiful scenery.

The gap between the rich and the poor here is also huge, with the monthly income of the poor in shantytowns being less than 1,000 yuan, while the tuition fees of private schools in rich areas are as high as 40,000 US dollars for just one semester.

Genghis Khan Square, formerly known as Sukhbaatar Square, is similar in layout to many communist countries, surrounded by some important buildings, a bit like Tiananmen Square. The building on the north side is the Government House, which houses the National Assembly and the offices of the President and Prime Minister. At the door, there are large seated statues of Genghis Khan, Ogedai and Kublai Khan.

To the east of the square is the National Classical Art Theatre and the Palace of Culture, and to the west is the Ulaanbaatar City Government and the Central Post Office. To the south is the Peace Avenue, a main thoroughfare that runs east and west of Ulaanbaatar.

There is an interesting phenomenon that domestic couples usually choose places with beautiful natural scenery to take wedding photos, while in Ulaanbaatar, temples, Buddha statues, and large squares are "landmarks" that are popular choices for wedding photos.

More than 50 kilometers east of Ulaanbaatar, in the steppe, stands the world's largest equestrian statue of Genghis Khan, the most famous hero of the Mongolian nation and the founder of the Mongol Empire.

Straddled on the warhorse, clenched his fists and crossed his waist, his expression was resolute, and he stared at the southeast. In his right hand, of course, he held the golden whip tightly. Interestingly, this is not the whole story of the Golden Whip, which is said to have fallen in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, where Genghis Khan finally returned.

Walking in front of him, Genghis Khan's face was facing east, the afterglow of the setting sun came from the backlight, casting a shadow on the hero's body, the cold color of steel, the already chilling air, and the scene in front of him seemed to symbolize that even the Mongol Empire, which spanned Europe and Asia and had been glorious for more than 100 years, still had to enter the pile of old papers of history after all.

The introduction and restoration of shamanism is the most interesting part. Although Mongolia now mainly believes in Tibetan Buddhism, shamanism that worships heaven and fire is the most primitive belief of the Mongolian nation, and the symbol of Soyongbu mentioned above is the embodiment of the spirit of shamanism. Shamanism is also practiced in Mongolian society, especially among the traditional elderly.

It is divided into many tribes, such as the Khalkha tribe, the Oirat tribe in the west, the Buryat tribe in the north, etc., although different tribes believe in shamans, but there are some differences in construction methods, worship rituals, etc., the shaman tribe part of the park in the thirteenth century will introduce various small branches of shamans in detail.

Stand on the hillside and look into the distance. The river rushes out of the Orkhon Gorge and meanders to Sumu, there are a few people fishing quietly on the bank of the river, and there are also a few cows and sheep walking around, grazing freely, and occasionally there are crows hovering and flying overhead.

This scene is always reminiscent of Rabindranath Tagore's poem in Gitanjali: Like a flock of homesick cranes, flying day and night to their nests, in my worship to you, let me all my life set off for its eternal homeland.

The country's pride in Genghis Khan's era is unparalleled, and various places named after Genghis Khan abound. The most recent one is Genghis Khan's camp in a valley on the southwestern outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, which was the site of the 2016 Eurasia Summit.

The so-called camp is actually a hotel on the grassland, compared with the hotel in the city, it is considered a simple condition, each room is a yurt, heating by manual fire, there is no independent bathing and sanitation facilities, only public toilets and bathing rooms.

But the real steppe herdsmen's yurts, which may be cut off from water and electricity at night, and the sanitary conditions are not satisfactory, compared to that kind of camp, the camp is still much better. At least the public dining room, public bath and toilet are complete, but the difference is just the grade.

So the largest, best-conditioned, and closest to the city hotel in the camp where Johnson has stayed is this Genghis Khan camp.