$Unique_ID{COW02445} $Pretitle{276} $Title{Mongolia Chapter 6A. Living Conditions} $Subtitle{} $Author{Trevor N. Dupuy, Wendell Blanchard} $Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army} $Subject{even ulan bator country mongolian ger high gers less meat} $Date{1973} $Log{Shri Deva*0244501.scf } Country: Mongolia Book: Mongolia, A Country Study Author: Trevor N. Dupuy, Wendell Blanchard Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army Date: 1973 Chapter 6A. Living Conditions [See Shri Deva: Courtesy Embassy of Mongolia, Washington DC.] There was much hardship among the ordinary nomadic Mongols-and even possibly among their princes and monastic order-before independence. This was not so much the result of reactionary or despotic rule as it was a consequence of the limited level of development of the society. There was no science or medicine as it was known in the West, and so no universities or hospitals or living conveniences such as existed in Europe. A rigorous climate also made life hard. This situation could not help but take its tool of the people who were the Mongols of only half-a-century ago. Their living accommodations were a remarkable adaptation to the climate in which these Mongols live, and the nomadic life which they pursued. Nevertheless 50 years ago their dwellings were sometimes not adequately heated, let alone ventilated or lighted. The sanitary standards of the people, moreover, themselves posed health hazards. Polluted water was consumed, bodies irregularly washed, and excretion inadequately disposed of. Although the Mongol may prefer to live in his traditional-style dwelling, the government is gradually providing him with modern apartments, with the main purpose of discouraging nomadism. He eats a more varied diet today than he has ever done, and he has the opportunity for a more varied dress, though he does not exploit it, on the whole. Prices for luxury and even some consumer goods are high, but the present-day Mongolian is paid enough to make ends meet. All aspects of the contemporary Mongolian's living conditions reflect the modernization of life in his country in general-and the tension between the old and new in 20th-century Mongolia. In particular, today's Mongolian is the beneficiary of improved hospital and other medical facilities, provided free, as well as of a wide range of social insurance benefits. Bicycles, sewing-machines, and battery radios appear to be within the reach of some citizens. These changes cannot help but affect the way in which the Mongolian looks at life, and how he regards his future and that of his country. He sees foreign films (primarily Communist ones), learns of developments throughout the world on his radio, and even hears the top pop tunes of America and Europe. Few people in Asia eat better than today's Mongolian, and the statistics of the availability of hospitals and doctors are impressive. The average Mongol is better off than the average Chinese, thanks in major measure to Soviet aid. But this is less important than a comparison with his own past, a half century ago or even on the eve of World War II. In terms of his living standard, the Mongolian is better off. Housing, Clothing and Food Mongolian life is more urbanized and sedentary today than before in the country's history, and the change is reflected in the type and availability of housing. A fifth of the MPR's 1.2 million inhabitants live in a single city, the capital of Ulan Bator, where the greatest change has taken place. Even here, however, the old habits survive, especially among those who have recently moved to the city, as well as those most advanced in years. Mongolia's nomadic society meant, among other things, that dwellings had to be moved, sometimes frequently in a single year. Almost all of the people until very recently lived in large, circular, collapsible, portable tents called gers by the Mongols themselves (but more widely known outside Mongolia as yurts, the Turkic word). Only princes and higher monks lived in wooden dwellings, and even these could be collapsed and transferred to another location. There were very few houses of the European type in the country before the revolution. Housing: The Old and The New The main change in housing in the MPR has come since World War II. In Ulan Bator in particular a large number of multi-storied apartment buildings have been built, at one period almost exclusively by Chinese labor. These buildings are not of the same size, shape, or color-and the variety of their appearance is described by travellers as generally appealing. The streets are wide, with public squares both numerous and attractive. It has been claimed that one-fifth of the capital's population was housed in apartments by the end of the Second 5-Year Plan in 1957. However, during the same period the production of felt (the insulating substance of the traditional tent-like dwellings) almost doubled (suggestive in large part of the increase in population, both in the capital and in the country at large). There is no doubt about the continuing construction of new apartment dwellings, but especially in Ulan Bator population growth has outstripped the building of dwelling units (see ch. 2, The Land and the People). Even in Ulan Bator, as a result, the ger is still to be found as a standard dwelling-place, and the fenced-in rectangular areas in which these round tents are located provide a striking contrast with the modern apartment and office buildings. In some provincial centers, stone and wooden dwellings are also to be found, but the rate of new construction is much slower than in Ulan Bator. The ger, however, should not be considered as "primitive" or "sub-standard" housing. A top American journalist who has visited the MPR on different occasions has written that nowhere is it warmer in Mongolia in the fierce winters than inside these white, beehive-like tents. Small children, indeed, comfortably play, half-naked, within them. And many persons in the capital of Ulan Bator-and other cities-live in gers out of preference. Others, especially older persons, forsake their modern apartment residences in the summer and return to the ger as a kind of vacation dwelling. Younger Mongolians, on the other hand, do not display this attitude-they too, like to get out of the city in the summer but the motorcycle, returning to the family apartment at night. The government has tried to house those Mongolians who flow into Ulan Bator in modern housing units-but has so far lagged behind the movement of people. The city, as a consequence, is more or less ringed by groupings of gers-and, in some cases, even shacks which have been partially screened from view by wooden fences. From a distance, such aggregations look very much like a group of oil storage tanks. Even in downtown areas of the city, gers can be seen interspersed with more modern dwellings-with the landscape a constantly changing one as the portable residences are moved from place to place. Some of the gers have electricity-but by no means all of them-while interior plumbing is altogether absent, a circumstances that poses a major sanitation problem. Gers located away from the main cities or aimak centers do not have electricity, light being provided at night by non-smoking lamps. These old-fashioned lamps are not necessarily a less reliable source of light than government-supplied electricity. The ger in the past was an imaginative-and fairly satisfactory-response to the need for a portable home. This light, movable, circular "tent" has for the frame of the side walls an expandable trellis about 4 feet high attached at each end to the door frame. The wheel-like roof-ring is supported by two sturdy poles. Closely spaced rafters rise from the wall to the roof-ring. The framework is covered with sheets of felt (or, rarely, skins) overlaid with white waterproof canvas. The number of layers of felt varies with the season. Its insulation is adequate for the harsh winters and high winds of the steppes, as well as the heat of the summer sun. The roof-ring is equipped with a movable canvas cover. When the cover is fully opened, in pleasant weather, a considerable amount of sunlight can enter. In rain or dust-storms it can be closed entirely, and in winter it may be reinforced by felt, or lacking this, layers of hay. The walls of the ger are hung with cloth or bright carpets, and all visible woodwork-doors, rafters and roof-ring are painted, sometimes in intricate and tasteful patterns. On the cooperative farms, though collectivism is the order of the day, herds, or sections of them, still have to be moved seasonally. Herdsmen and their families still live in gers, and move about in smaller groups, though always under the direction of the head of the cooperative. Their gers, though identical in pattern to those of the more sedentary urbanites and state farm colonies, are often less elaborately decorated and do not possess such modern amenities as store-bought beds and stoves. Gers also are the main dwelling places on the state farms, but these are grouped together and there is a community life. The interiors of the dwellings are more likely to display the influences of the outside world and various conveniences of modern living. Today's ger, on a state farm, could be described as well-furnished. The beds are steel-framed, placed away from the center of the tent and curtained-off from it; there are likely to be metal folding chairs (or stools in the case of the less affluent) in addition to a fairly sizeable table; and several large, decorated storage chests will be found, usually stored under the beds, as well as one or more mirrors and many pictures or photographs pinned to the inner wall of the tent. Modern conveniences include a battery radio, usually a steam-iron, and a sewing-machine. Wooden floors are today common, and are almost always to be found in city-situated gers which serve as residences as well as those on state farms. Most, nevertheless, are sectionalized so as to be portable. They are usually covered by attractive sheepskin or camel's hair rugs. The cooking cauldrons of yesterday are rapidly disappearing, and today's ger will usually boast a large brick or metal stove with a stove-pipe that rises through the roof-vent. Wood and coal have replaced animal-dung as the most commonly used fuels. Less frequently, there will be a motorcycle as well as a horse outside the ger. Still another sign of the changing times is the increasing infrequency with which the traditional Buddhist shrine or picture is to be found in such dwellings, although it is still to be encountered with some regularity in the remote parts of the land. Some idea of the size and weight of the modern ger is suggested by the fact that four camels or a truck (or two jeeps) would ordinarily be required to move the dwelling when it has been collapsed for transfer to some other location. The ger is a declining feature of the Mongolian landscape. Workers on state farms near the ruins of Karakorum, capital of the once mighty Mongol empire, for example, today live largely in houses instead of gers. In the provincial capital of Tsetserleg-a city of 12,000, which boasts a theater, hotel, and hospital (among other emenities)-only half of the inhabitants live in gers. The remainder reside in almost Swiss-like white or pastel-painted houses with balconies and gaily colored woodwork. As might be expected, apartment rooms in Ulan Bator and other cities and towns are furnished in much the same fashion as the traditional gers. Iron cots are used as beds, colorfully painted wooden chests contain the family's clothing and other necessities, and pictures and embroidered pillows adorn the room. Private bath facilities are very much a luxury, however, with the usual situation being that several families use a single facility, located sometimes on a different floor from their apartments. In Ulan Bator the heating for all apartments of a group is carried by underground (or overhead) pipes from a central plant, completed in 1961. Refrigerators are almost literally nowhere to be found and cooking in apartments is usually done on an electric hot plate. Rental rates are fairly nominal-some running as low as approximately 30 tugriks a month. A good ger, on the other hand, could be built or bought for approximately 2 to 3 months' wages for the average Mongolian worker. It is one of the reasons why so many Mongolians in Ulan Bator prefer gers to apartment living. The continued widespread existence of gers-even in the cities-is by no means only a reflection of the inability of the government's construction program to keep pace with population growth and movement. Dress There is only modest variation in personal dress from region to region. In the cities, particularly Ulan Bator, people wear European-style clothing, but those who do so on all occasions are in a minority even in the capital. An evening at the theater-to see such a European drama as "King Lear" -drew an Ulan Bator audience, the country's most modernized, about equally divided between persons in Western and traditional costume. Most today still prefer the historic dress of their country. The traditional costume consists of a long, flowing robe reminiscent in some respects of traditional Chinese wear. Beneath this garment are heavy trousers, tucked into high leather boots, or felt boots in winter. The dress is appropriate to both the rigorous climate of the country and the traditional nomadic habits of its people. It is a colorful costume, moreover, the outer side of the garment being ordinarily a gay blue, purple, green, or orange of silk brocade if the owner can afford it. This robe-like, year-round costume-which is buttoned at the throat, right shoulder and right side and reaches to within a foot of the ground-is called a del. The only incongruous quality of the del is the fact that for ordinary wear in summer it is accompanied by a Western-style felt (or even straw) hat-making the male wearer a quite striking figure as he rides across the steppes on horseback or about town on his motorcycle. Russian-style caps are also seen. In winter, men and women wear fur caps with ear-lappets. The inner lining of the del is ordinarily of sheepskin or red fox fur. The garment is gathered together at the waist by a colorful sash-worn today by both men and women. The sash was historically worn only by men and is called a bous. Women did not traditionally wear the sash but today both sexes wear bright yellow, red or green sashes about their waists- both because they make the rest of the costume look more attractive and also because they are supposed to keep the wearer warmer. Western-style shoes are increasingly worn in the cities but those who have any need to travel by horseback still wear the gutal or knee-high leather boot. In winter felt boots are worn. The times are taking their toll, however, on the traditional costume of the Mongols. The felt hat worn throughout the country is a case in point. So, too, are the transparent, plastic macintoshes worn particularly by women over the del when outdoors. Ulan Bator's major department store boasts a dress department, which, however, is more often than not out of merchandise altogether. This is a reason even young women do not take to Western-style women's dress in any large numbers. Such ready-made clothing is not that easy to find. Some women, though, appear to make their own dresses, and the del, whether for man or woman, is ordinarily made by the woman at home on her sewing machine. High prices for European-type suits, overcoats and shoes probably also account in part for the limited popularity of these garments. Primarily, however, most Mongolians prefer the del to Western dress. Food The Mongolian eats almost entirely animal products. Sheep, cattle, yaks, horses, camels, and goats are sources, one way or another, of almost everything he eats. Milk is consumed by grown-ups and children alike. Yak and fermented mare's milk are the best liked by adults in most parts of the country. Butter, cheese and yogurt are other popular dairy products. The flesh of sheep, cattle, yaks and horses is eaten-the horse only by the Kazakhs in the West. Mutton, however, is by far and away the most popular meat in the country. Historically, the Mongol has not eaten either much grain or vegetables. This is changing today, again slowly, particularly in the cities, where the diet like life in general, is more touched by foreign influences and considerably more varied than in the rural ger. Mutton, beef, horsemeat, camel's meat, cooked millet mixed with meat, noodles, and bread are among the staples of the city-dweller's diet. Fish is not at all widely eaten, partly out of superstition. Onions and potatoes are the only vegetables consumed in any quantity even in Ulan Bator. Greenstuffs and fruits rarely make their way to the Mongolian's table, except in the city homes of the top Western-influenced elite. Airag, called kumiss in Tartar and by the Russians (see Glossary), lightly fermented mare's milk, is the national drink. It is effervescent and slightly intoxicating and tastes something like a blend of champagne and buttermilk. Hospitable Mongolians inevitably offer it to their guests, and it is polite to consume at least three bowls (along with unspecified amounts of sour curd and sugar). Another favorite drink is tea, bolstered by milk, butter and salt in the summer, and, in addition to these ingredients, fried flour or rice in the winter. Increasingly, among the Ulan Bator elite, vodka is also becoming a customary drink. Typical of Mongolian eating tastes is boz, a national dish that combines chopped mutton dumplings and cucumbers, and struck one travelling writer at least as "a sort of ravioli." The blood and intestines of sheep are the chief ingredients of a popular sausage-like meat. Fat from sheep's tails has historically been considered a great delicacy. Given the distances dividing the various parts of the country and the formerly almost non-existent communications links, it is surprising that there are as few differences in diet from region to region. Universally, the Mongolian eats three meat and milk meals a day. Moreover, this comparatively high standard of living is fairly uniform as far as different classes of society are concerned. The high and the low-the increasingly Westernized and the distant rural-are alike in this respect. Such differences in diet as do exist, among the rural people in particular, are a reflection of geography and the type of economy it supports. Goats are the least valued of animals generally, primarily because Mongolians like fat-and goat's meat has much less fat than that of sheep. Goat's flesh is, however, regularly eaten in the more arid regions of the land (because goats can more easily live in such areas). In the mountains it is the yak that is more important, filling the same role as Mongolian longhorn cattle in the less elevated regions. Likewise, the source of the milk may vary-coming, for example, from goat, cow, yak, or even camel-but everywhere milk of one kind or another is regularly consumed. One measure of the mounting modernization of Mongolia is the increasing availability of pasteurized milk. Herd animals are not ordinarily slaughtered for the purpose of providing fresh meat daily. When slaughtering is necessary (in the countryside) most of the meat is preserved by drying. Hunting of such animals as are not protected is another source of meat, and here, too, meat of the large animals is dried. The cities are supplied by the growing meat industry. Except for its deficiencies in vegetables (especially green ones) and fruits, and its possible excess of fatty foods, the Mongolian's diet is a healthy and unusually high protein one. Particularly compared with adjacent China, the people of the MPR eat extremely well, indeed. They are also better housed and clothed, on the whole, than the Chinese. This is presumably yet another reason for Peking's lack of appeal for the Mongolians. Consumption Patterns The salary range in the MPR is not a great one. The most highly rewarded members of the society receive only about three times the pay of the least skilled worker-which is biased because it excludes various other benefits received by the more favored elements in the country. But the pay differential, omitting these very significant subsidies, is less than in any of the non-Communist countries of Asia. The lowest paid worker, an unskilled person, receives 300 tugriks (see Glossary), but the rent for such a worker's government-subsidized apartment may be less than 28 tugriks a month. Doctors and other professionals and experts receive salaries in the range of 700 to 1,000 tugriks a month. The level of living which such earnings will buy is difficult to calculate in view of the various benefits Mongolian citizens receive from the state-free medical assistance, for example. All indications, however, suggest that most Mongolians are able to support a family on what they earn, and some have modest resources left over for the purchase of the few luxuries available in their country. Most of the staples of the Mongolian's diet, moreover, are reasonably priced, in part because they are domestically produced. Education is free, and most parks, sports events, play areas, motion picture theaters, concerts, and plays require only a very modest admission fee or are also free. Ulan Bator has a fairly sizeable department store, but it is an establishment that makes even the ill-stocked Soviet department stores luxurious in comparison. Smaller stores elsewhere in the country are even less well stocked. The prices, moreover,are extremely high, especially in terms of the Mongolian wage structure. Almost no homes in the MPR have a refrigerator, which is not surprising in view of the fact that they cost well over 1,000 tugriks. Automobiles, when they can be bought, are at exorbitant prices. It is certain that most cars seen in Ulan Bator are official property issued to government and party organizations, or the perquisites of very high officials. Gasoline is extremely high priced. Little wonder that the motorcycle (let alone the bicycle) is more numerous than the automobile and that horses are still so much in use today. Shoes, men's and women's clothing, perfume (imported from the Soviet Union), vacuum cleaners, bicycles, and light motorcycles are among the featured items in the Ulan Bator department store most mentioned in the writings of visitors to the country. The prices for these items would also seem to be extremely high, which mainly accounts for the limited stocking of such goods. Dollar prices for certain items listed herein are offered solely for rough comparison. All derive from articles by experienced journalists who have visited Mongolia between 1961 and 1965. The exact exchange rates on which they based dollar figures is not known, nor, indeed, if they all used the same rate. An East German-built shortwave radio, for example, sells for more than $130-explaining why the occupant of a quite comfortably furnished ger visited by one foreigner was observed to possess a radio receiver of veritably antique nature. A man's Western-style overcoat is not available for less than $88, while a pair of men's shoes may cost $44. Alarm clocks have been observed on sale for $17-and chocolate candy at nearly $4.50 a pound. Even the widely worn felt hat-if purchased (rather than made at home)-may cost as much as $25. East German cameras were reported selling for $300 in 1965. Many times the main shopping outlets are lacking in goods altogether. A 1965 visitor to the MPR, for example, found the Ulan Bator department store completely out of women's dresses, and the men's department with only a couple of suits on hand. There were only two pairs of women's shoes (with flat heels) in the whole store priced at $25 a pair and reportedly of extremely poor quality. Such goods as there are come mainly from other Communist countries, even when they bear English-language brand names (as they frequently do). Toys are limited and expensive but include Chinese-manufactured "Junior Miss" kitchen play-sets and Russian-made "erector sets." In the early 1960s there was a veritable flood of cheap Chinese-manufactured consumer goods into the country, but strained political relations between the two countries have been accompanied by a slow-up in such imports. Not that even these Chinese goods were all inexpensive-many, indeed, were very highly priced. Chinese-made dress shirts, for example, were selling for $7 in 1961. Two-pound cans of Albanian tomatoes and North Korean pears were nearly $1 apiece. Even some necessities of life seem priced beyond the means of the Mongolian worker. Soap, for example, sells for 30 cents a bar and bread for 35 cents a pound. Bread, however, is not widely eaten outside of the cities and is usually baked by the housewife in such locations. Soap, in any case, is mainly homemade throughout the whole country. Mongolians are fond of both tobacco and liquor but largely content themselves with airag in part because of the high price of vodka. The latter beverage is widely available, however, and increasingly popular in the cities. Cigarettes are also priced high, a 25-cigarette Russian pack costing more than 80 cents. For the rural Mongolian, shopping takes two forms. The first of these is the trip, usually twice a month, to the cooperative store operated in connection with whatever state enterprise with which he is associated (collective or state farm, for example) when he makes most of his bigger purchases. The MPR, however, also has its version of the "travelling salesman" -itinerant peddlers who may call on the ger several times a week with various kinds of wares.