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The Gobi Desert, cold mountainous regions, and harsh climate of Mongolia leave it with one of the lowest population densities in the world. Nonetheless, Mongolians are proud of their long heritage, and carry even today their customs of the past. In this all-inclusive study of contemporary Mongolian life, readers will learn about nomadic lifestyles still practiced today. Other topics covered include Buddhism and other religions, literature, arts, cuisine, dress, family life, festivals and leisure activities, social customs, and lifestyle. May also includes an overview of Chinggis Khan, the father of the Mongol Empire, and his legacy in Mongolian culture today. Ideal for high school and undergraduate students, this volume is an essential addition to library shelves.

Customer Reviews (1)

Perfect for report-writing
High school to college-level holdings strong in Asian culture and history will find this latest addition to 'Culture and Customs of Asia' covers a country rarely given much depth or detail: Mongolia. Chapters provide historical, literary, economic and cultural review of Mongolia and make for a key introduction perfect for report-writing.
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Chapters: Pamir Mountains, Mount Imeon, Greater Mongolia, Nikolai Korzhenevskiy. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 25. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt:The Pamir Mountains (Chinese: ; Kyrgyz :; Persian: ; Tajik: ; Urdu: ; Uyghur: ) are a mountain range in Central Asia formed by the junction or knot of the Himalayas, Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, and Hindu Kush ranges. They are among the worlds highest mountains and since Victorian times they have been known as the "Roof of the World", translated from "Pamir". They are also known by the Chinese name of Congling (cnglng ), (Wade-Giles: Ts'ung-ling) or "Onion Range" (from the wild onions growing in the region). The precise extent of the Pamir Mountains is debatable. They lie mostly in Gorno-Badakhshan province, Tajikistan and Badakshan Province, Afghanistan. To the north they join the Tian Shan mountains along the Alay Valley of Kyrgyzstan. To the south they join the Hindu Kush mountains along the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan and Pakistan. To the east they may end on the Chinese border or extend to the range that includes Kongur Tagh which is sometimes included in the Kunlun Mountains. It includes Uzbekistan in the northern part. Its three highest mountains are Ismoil Somoni Peak (known from 19321962 as Stalin Peak, and from 19621998 as Communism Peak), 7,495 m (24,590 ft); Ibn Sina Peak (still unofficially known as Lenin Peak), 7,134 m (23,406 ft); and Peak Korzhenevskaya (Russian: , Pik Korzhenevskoi), 7,105 m (23,310 ft). There are many glaciers in the Pamir Mountains, including the 77 km (48 mi) long Fedchenko Glacier, the longest in the former USSR and the longest glacier outside the Polar region. Part of the Pamir Mountain range in springtime.Covered in snow throughout the year, the Pamirs have long and bitterly cold winters, ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=498462 ... Read more

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Two nomadic Mongolian children listen to stories of the past from their father and yearn for their own horses, creatures essential to their way of life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children
Economic development, technological growth, and environmental degradation have affected the lives of all people on this planet.Yet modernization has changed the way of life more slowly across generations for some people. In this outstanding book series, Jan Reynolds offers readers a fascinating glimpse into several such societies and describes how families meet their subsistence needs, practice their beliefs, interact in their communities, and live in the elements.

To effectively communicate some fairly sophisticated lessons to younger children, the clear narratives each focus on a particular family, and the vivid photographs capture a wealth of interesting information about their activities, clothes, food, and surroundings. Seeing a young aborigines boy pulling an enormous carpet snake out of a log and reading about how the Inuit people survived on a diet consisting only of caribou meat and fat are just a few of the unique experiences that reading this book series will entail.

The series has seven books.This book, Mongolia, features nomadic herders who live in the plains of this central Asian country.

Mongolia, Vanishing Cultures
Nothing wrong with the book, but I was disappointed to find an elementary book for children. Had hoped to finda serious study of Mongolian Culture. This is the second time that I get a book for children on Mongolia when I had hoped for some serious stuff.

Would also like to signal that my name is Marianne Ahrne - not Ajrne as written above.

Lovely. Nice gift for kids.
The pictures are very nicely done - they do evoke the true space of the rolling landscape.

The story is brief and not very involved, but it does give a nice view into the nomadic lifestyle. It is an accurate portrayal of Mongolian countryside life.

It's a nice book to read to kids, and has very nice pictures for them to look at as you read. ... Read more

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The Great Wall of China or is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire from Xiongnu attacks during various successive dynasties. Since the 5th century BC, several walls have been built that were referred to as the Great Wall. One of the most famous is the wall built between 220? 206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains; the majority of the existing wall were built during the Ming Dynasty. The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. The most comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has recently concluded that the entire Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8851.8 km (5500.3 mi). This is made up of 6259.6 km (3889.5 mi) of sections of actual wall, 359.7 km (223.5 mi) of trenches and 2232.5 km (1387.2 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! A Zud is a Mongolian term for an extremely snowy winter in which livestock is unable to find fodder through the snow cover, and large numbers of animals die due to starvation and the cold. The term is also used for other meteorological conditions, especially in winter, that make livestock grazing impossible. It is not uncommon for zuds to kill over one million head of livestock in a single incident. A record was set in 1944 of almost 7 million head of livestock lost in a single winter. In 1999/2000, 2000/2001 and 2001/2002, Mongolia was hit by three zuds in a row, in which a combined number of 11 million animals were lost. ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Ulan Bator, or Ulaanbaatar is the capital and largest city of Mongolia. The city is an independent municipality not part of any province, and its population as of 2008 is just over 1 million. Located in the north central part of the country, the city lies at an elevation of about 1,310 metres (4,300 ft) in a valley on the Tuul River. It is the cultural, industrial, and financial heart of the country. It is also the center of Mongolia's road network, and connected by rail to the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Chinese railway network. ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! An ovoo (Mongolian: ????, heap) is a type of shamanistic cairn found in Mongolia, usually made from rocks or from wood. Ovoos are often found at the top of mountains and in high places, like mountain passes. They serve mainly as religious sites, used in worship of the mountains and the sky as well as in Buddhist ceremonies, but often are also landmarks. When travelling, it is custom to stop and circle an ovoo three times in clockwise direction, in order to have a safer journey. Usually, rocks are picked up from the ground and added to the pile. Also, one may leave offerings in the form of sweets, money, milk, or vodka. If one is in a hurry while traveling and does not have time to stop at an ovoo, honking of the horn while passing by the ovoo will suffice. ... Read more

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Chapter Resource File includes: map, graphic organizer, biography, vocabulary, critical thinking, and main idea activities; daily quizzes, chapter test, chapter test for English language learners and special-needs students; geography for life activity; block scheduling activities, and answer key. ... Read more

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This title provides notes of a journey through China, Mongolia and Tibet in 1888 and 1889. In these pages of the America traveler W.W. Rockhill, he has endeavoured to give the results obtained during a journey, in 1888 and 1889, of several thousand miles of the hitherto to unknown tracts of the Chinese empire. His effort has been to give an accurate account of the historical, geographical and ethnographical details in its authenticity. Rockhill resided in Peking for 4 years and was in close contact with people from Tibet and China. His study of Chinese literature enabled him to offer explications to custom, manners and names. He travelled on a route which previously explored by two famous explorers: Prejevalsky and Pandit Kishan Singh. ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Southern Mongolian Democratic Alliance was created in May 1992, by Hada and other Mongol activists including Tegexi. Its major goal is the self-determination of Inner Mongolia (a province of China).n the 1980s, Xi Haiming (Mongolian: Temtselt Shobshuud), Huchuntegus (Chinese: Hu Qing Te Gu Si), Wang Manglai ((Chinese: Wang Man Lai) and Hada, all students at universities in Hohhot, discussed establishment of the Inner Mongolian People's Party (IMPP), a political party for Mongolians in Inner Mongolia. Later, individuals from eastern and western Inner Mongolia divided and therefore, Huchuntegus established the Ordos Association of Ethnic Culture at the Ikh Juu League (now the Ordos City) ... Read more

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This series shows the distribution of mineral deposits and occurrences in the countries of the Asia and Pacific region irrespective of their economic significance and provides information on their contained commodities, reserves, geographic locations, their relation to the geological environment and other characteristics. ... Read more

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With Mongolia fast becoming a significant exporter of minerals and raw materials, this book provides a full account of political and economic events in this important country. It focuses on the period since the establishment of the Soviet-backed Mongolian People’s Republic in 1924 and the transition towards a democratic free market system since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Covering key topics in Mongolia’s recent development, the book looks at:

• economic and political reform process
• the role of the private sector
• foreign aid
• trade and investment
• the attempts to tackle pressing issues such as growth, inflation, unemployment, poverty, problems of climate and weather, and pollution.

This book is an important resource for anyone seeking to understand this fascinating country’s affairs.

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Part travelogue and part historical recreation of the legendary journey of the barbaric Mongol warrior Genghis Khan, Severin employs his trademark wit and insight to offer a rare glimpse of a region seldom seen by Westerners and attempts to retrace the gr ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

a decent adventure story

Tim Severin was invited to join a ride that would replicate the Mongol version of the Pony Express; two thirds of this book is about the ups and downs of that journey across the steppes of Mongolia. Severin talks about the recent and ancient history of the Mongols; visits a resurrected lamasery put together by monks that had been in hiding for over four decades; rides through the Hangay, the most scenic area of Mongolia; meets with Kazakh eagle hunters; visits an ancient shamaness; and goes on a shakedown horseback pilgrimage to Burkhan Khaldun, the holy mountain and birthplace of Genghis Khan.

On the downside of this narrative is Tim Severin's continual frustrations with the leader of this cross-country ride that ostensibly is being done to celebrate the glory of the 800th birthday of the Great Khan. His carping about the incompetencies of this guy, as valid as they may have been, end up being a real drag on the story of the adventure. The reading starts to get wearisome at the half way point, with the particulars and extraneous frictions between the personalities feeling like the author is dumping on the wondering reader. But, stick with it - the narrative picks up the last third of the book and Severin redeems himself.

Tim Severin's writing is definitely not of the caliber and gripping narration of "The Brendan Voyage" (see review). Yet, it still is a great story and presents much in the way of entertaining details. You may wish to read this book in conjunction with Jack Weatherford's book on Genghis Khan (see review).

The Cloud Reckoner

Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts

Interesting Mix of Mongolian Travel and History
In this book Tim Severin is not really searching for Genghis Khan himself, as the title states, but for traces of the lifestyle and traditions in the modern world that have been inspired by the great leader. Severin traveled throughout the vast and sparse nation of Mongolia, mostly by horse and in the company of herdsmen who still lived the semi-nomadic lifestyle that had endured for centuries. Severin includes fascinating descriptions of the harsh Mongolian landscapes and good character sketches of his companions. An added bonus is coverage of the semi-autonomous Kazakh people of the western part of the country, along with interesting ruminations on the death throes of Communism that were developing at the time. Interspersed with the travelogue are an engaging history of the Mongolian people and a compendium of knowledge of Genghis Khan and his conquering exploits. On the bad side, Severin is not a very strong writer (or needs a better editor), and he is often unnecessarily judgmental. This is evident in cruel conclusions about a member of the expedition named Ariunbold, a bureaucrat whose poor leadership deserved criticism, but Severin gets personal. The final chapter should probably be ignored as Severin passes judgment on the character and intelligence of the Mongolian people and the effects of their vast history, giving rather condescending pontifications of another people's culture and history. Fortunately, interesting tales of the Mongolian people and their intriguing landscape and history keep this book mostly enjoyable. [~doomsdayer520~] ... Read more