Here's a more personal description of my last weekend. The last time I had been to the Bogd Khaan Palace Complex was in spring with much dry, yellow grass abounding and Altaa told me there would be an explosion of joyous green with the vegetation well-watered by the summer rains (it's more cloudy in summer than in winter). It wasn't as spectacular as I imagined, but it was decent in terms of vibrancy.
The complex was originally the abode of Mongolia's last king, a theocratic and then constitutional monarch who lasted for half a century until 1924. In fact, he was the eighth Bogd Khaan, a line of holy Buddhist rulers dating back to Mongolia's cultural lodestone, Zanabazar, the first Bogd Khaan, in the 17th century. In the grounds, with their many temples and former libraries, there were a fair few bronze-workings (some by the Renaissance man Zanabazar himself) and plenty of banners on religious themes described as being made of silk applique (I think the application of silk to an original sketch on cloth).
The Winter Palace was built by the Russians in the reign of the last Bogd Khaan, although the Manchu Emperor of China, Mongolia's then overlord, chided the Khaan for building in the style of a rival religion and so, as vassal, the Bogd Khaan added some Buddhist imagery to mollify. I think the real reason why the Manchu Emperor made a fuss was that the Mongolians were entering the monasteries at record rates and so the birth rate was falling. Fewer Mongolians would be easier to control and the Chinese and Manchus did not want anything to impede this.
Inside, there was a spectacular horse-drawn carriage made in Britain, a ger tent covered with more than 100 leopard skins given to the Bogd Khaan on his 25th birthday by a wealthy local noble and a sedan chair. Upstairs, there were original musical chairs, given by the Russian tsar, where instead of sitting down when the music stops, it's the sitting down that starts the music. There was a robe made of gold thread that was impervious to fire, much coral and pearl ornamentation (despite Mongolia being landlocked), glass mirrors and furniture from Manchu emperors, separate beds for the Bogd Khaan and his wife (for he was devout Buddhist and he and his predecessors were all chosen by Buddhist clergy) and the Bogd Khaan's official chair with many cushions so he could tower over his guest and courtiers but reminded me of the princess and the pea.
Downstairs again but at the back, there were on display the clothes the Bogd Khaan's elephant wore. Certainly a pet more novel than most (especially since Mongolia has no elephants, this one being bought in Russia and who knows how it got there). There were also the legendary paintings by Sharaa, including his most famous One Day in Mongolia, in which Mongolians get up to all sorts of antics in a vast canvas ensemble, though they weren't the original hangings (copied from elsewhere).
The strangest items were in the taxidermy section. Dozens of stuffed animals from more than a century ago, purchased from Hamburg by the Bogd Khaan's agents but procured from many exotic locales - all the toucans, toads, tigers, plus penguins and more. The stuffed lion had a stuffed deer hanging limply from its jaws, the frozen snakes had a vole and a surprised frog to play with and the monkeys had tiny babies on their back. Such harvesting of wildlife would not be countenanced by most today, but the values of a hundred years ago are massively different. As mentioned in the blog recently, the past is another country. Weirdest of all was the "lazy antelope" - actually a four-toed sloth. I guess this derives somehow from its eating of termites and ants on trees. There was an "anteater" in its own right present in the same glass cabinet and the museum staff must have found the pairing entirely natural.
In Ulaanbaatar, I kept bumping into the North Korean second-in-command who was visiting Mongolia for the first time in 20 years. First, on the Saturday, I came across his convoy at the crossroads intersection where the main Trade and Development Bank and its idiosyncratic clocktower is located. There were plenty of police for the entourage but not apparent at first and so it was wise that I refrained from taking a picture as the convoy turned the corner of the cleared roads (all I would have got would have been a silhouette). This year, it was North Korean flags beside Mongolian flags hanging from street lamps on the eve of my departure, last year it was South Korean flags for the president of that country. The second time I came across the North Korean or at least his convoy was with Altaa as we made our way to Zaisan Memorial from the Bogd Khaan's Palace and the vehicle flotilla was returning.
Last year, Altaa and I regularly went to Zaisan, but this year was our first time. At the top, we found a plaque near the religious rock-pile known as an ovoo. The plaque was erected by the Democratic Party (the opposition party in the Mongolian parliament) not more than two weeks before. there were loads of goats scaling the steep angles of Zaisan. After we climbed down the steps, we went home and invited Altaa's recently arrived parents out for dinner.
