What is the current situation in Mongolia?

Mongolia is China's northern neighbor. It takes only two hours to fly from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, and there is a railway connection between the two countries. In 2003, about 60,000 Russians entered China with tourist visas, most of them were businessmen and laborers, and only a few thousand were real tourists. At present, Mongolia has become a new tourist destination country in China, and specific agreements are under negotiation.

Food, clothing, housing and transportation of Ulaanbaatar people

Ulaanbaatar is built in a hilly area between mountains. The buildings in the main streets of Ulaanbaatar have a strong Russian flavor and are very elegant, usually 3-5 stories, and the tallest buildings in the city are only a dozen stories. There is a big square in the city center, and there is a shopping mall exactly like Wangfujing Department Store in Beijing in the business district. Even the stone used for stair handrails is the same, and it is said that the same drawing is used. New residential areas in Ulaanbaatar are on the rise. In contrast, the buildings in 1970s and 1980s are very similar to the five or six-story buildings built in China at the same time. Although the buildings in the early times are very old, they are elegant when you look closely; There are also a large number of low-rise houses built on the hillside, with many yurts in the middle. A little out of the city, a large area of mountain grassland comes, the grass is not high, and livestock can eat freely-Mongolia's animal husbandry is basically in a state of natural grazing. On weekends, city people often drive out to play in scenic places on the grassland. Compared with the capital's population of 880,000 (accounting for the national population 1/3), there are quite a lot of cars in Ulaanbaatar. The streets are full of foreign cars, and South Korea has the most used cars. Mongolia basically does not have its own manufacturing industry, and the three pillars of its economy are mining, agriculture, animal husbandry and retail. Because there are few people, the per capita natural resources are relatively rich. Houses here use a lot of wood, and trees are cut down casually; Although there is little rain, the city is not short of water, and the water in several rivers is rich and clear. The land used by Mongolians to build houses is basically unrestricted except in the city center, and it is easy to get government approval. Ulaanbaatar is a capital with high latitude and altitude, and it is located in the deep inland, so the winter is very long. But its summer is cool and charming, the days are long, and it is still on at 9 pm. Ulaanbaatar shopping mall closed earlier, and the department store closed at 8 pm. The pace of life in Ulaanbaatar is relatively slow and leisurely. There are more than 3000 bars, cafes and other leisure places in this city. It is difficult to draw conclusions about the living standards of Mongolians. The average monthly salary of Mongolian civil servants is about 80 dollars, and that of taxi drivers can reach 150 dollars, but everyone's actual life seems to be better than this figure. Mongolians themselves feel that life is much better now than in previous years. Mobile phones have become quite popular in Ulaanbaatar, and they are charged in one direction; However, the internet is still in its infancy, and it is inconvenient to get online. Mongolia's urban population is highly educated and many people have been abroad, so they are generally well informed. In the pastoral area, we visited a herdsman family. Besides the old couple, there are four daughters, two of whom are abroad. The walls of yurts are covered with photos taken by their daughters all over the world. The old man proudly said that even the most remote herders know what is happening in this world. The living habits of Ulaanbaatar people are greatly influenced by Russia. Although the food structure is Mongolian, the tableware and eating methods are Western. The next day we didn't meet beggars in Ulaanbaatar, but there were many children selling small commodities in tourist attractions, and some of them pestered customers to buy them. The pattern of Mongolian media has changed a lot in recent years, but "Mobile" is still a national television station with one channel and more than 400 staff. Several private TV stations have been opened in Ulaanbaatar, with only a few dozen or hundreds of people, which is only equivalent to a program group of big TV stations. However, citizens of Ulaanbaatar can watch dozens of TV channels, most of which are foreign channels. There are many kinds of newspapers in Ulaanbaatar, but the daily newspaper with the largest circulation only sells more than 1000 copies. In recent years, Mongolia has hardly produced any decent film and television works, and almost all of them are imported. Princess Zhu Huan of China is a household name. The most popular stars in this country are singers, but there are no big movie stars. Due to Mongolia's limited ability to produce cultural products, Mongolians are actually enriching their cultural life through external resources. Many countries with small populations in the world are actually like this, so people don't feel lonely. Last year, Mongolia's GDP was 1 1 billion US dollars, and its trade volume with China reached 440 million US dollars, twice that of Mongolia and Russia. China is Mongolia's largest trading partner and largest investor. Last year, about 200,000 foreigners entered China, and 60,000 to 70,000 people came from. Among those who left Mongolia, the largest number went to China, reaching more than 465,438+00,000 last year. Besides traveling and doing business in China, more than 30,000 people go to Hohhot, Inner Mongolia for medical treatment every year-some hospitals in Inner Mongolia have signed contracts with Mongolia to provide preferential treatment for these patients. There are also many people who use Beijing as a transit point to travel to the United States, Southeast Asia, Australia and other parts of the world. Just as Tianjin Port has become the most important seaport for Mongolian goods, Beijing has also become the first stop for more and more Mongolians to go abroad. At present, the road traffic between China and Mongolia is not developed enough. At present, there is only a railway connection between China and Mongolia, and there is no road traffic. The China-Mongolia Railway runs through Mongolia and is the main channel of trade between China and Mongolia. The highway from Ulaanbaatar to Zamenud, the border between China and Mongolia, is under construction, with a total length of 700 kilometers, and 500 kilometers have been repaired. This road will also be the main road connecting China and Russia. China-Mongolia border port 1 1, but at present only Erenhot-Zamenud port is open all year round. There is no expressway in Mongolia, and the best expressway we have ever seen is also a lane with poor maintenance and potholes. Mongolians call these roads expressways, because their drivers are not slow at all when driving on such roads. Mongolia welcomes tourists from China. With Mongolia becoming a tourist destination country of China, will there be a large number of China tourists visiting Mongolia? Mongolia very much hopes that things will develop like this, but there are still many problems from now on. First of all, Mongolia has insufficient tourism facilities. There are only four four-star hotels in Ulaanbaatar (equivalent to three-star hotels in China), and the total number of tourist beds in the city is only 5,600. There are about 140 tourist spots around Ulaanbaatar, but the model is relatively simple, and some yurts are basically built on grasslands. According to the official of Mongolian Tourism Bureau, western tourists come to Mongolia, one is yearning for this primitive natural scenery, and the other is full of interest in the real nomadic life. They tend to take risks and are not afraid of the hardships in the journey. For example, in the westernmost mountainous area of Mongolia, opposite to Kanas Lake, a famous scenic spot in Xinjiang, China, there are almost no roads, but last year 1, about 3,000 western tourists climbed mountains, skied there and slept in tents on steep slopes without cable cars (there were no cable cars throughout Mongolia). Mongolian tourism officials admit that Europeans like adventure, while Asian tourists prefer comfort. Therefore, Mongolia is actively developing tourism hardware facilities and welcomes businessmen from all over the world to invest. The second problem is that prices in Mongolia are more expensive than those in China. Although tourists from China can accept the cost of traveling to western countries, they often think that Mongolia is a cheaper country. Hotels in Mongolia are more expensive than hotels of the same standard in China. Four-star hotel 1 day is about 70 yuan. At present, tourist tickets and air tickets are also priced in a dual-track system, which charges foreigners a lot. An official of the Tourism Bureau said that 1 A tourist staying in Mongolia for one day probably needs RMB (we calculate it may be higher), plus a round-trip air ticket of more than 3,000 yuan and a visa fee of more than 200 yuan. If you take a 6-day tour of Mongolia, one person needs at least seven or eight thousand yuan. This price is obviously high for China people. However, Mongolia's determination to attract tourists from China is unshakable, and senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Tourism Bureau have repeatedly expressed this to us. Tourism is considered as the biggest bright spot of Mongolian economy. Most importantly, the mysterious China attracts people. It is a pure natural country with transparent air and rivers. As soon as you get out of the airport, you can smell the fragrance of the grassland and see the stars of the city at night. There are also monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism and ancient palaces with China architectural style. You can see Chinese plaques such as "Endless Life" and "Charity". There are 30 million horses, cows, sheep and camels here, and there are endless beautiful grasslands.