In Mongolia, the Skyline by the Steppes - NYTimes.com: "In September the hills around Ulan Bator, the rough and roiling capital of Mongolia, are flecked with wildflowers. Below them, districts of gers, or yurts, encircle the city. The circular canvas structures, insulated with felt and supported by poles, have housed central Asian nomads since before the time of Genghis Khan — before there even was a Mongolia. Now, half of the nation’s population lives permanently in or near the capital. Look beyond the gers, to where the offices and condominiums rise, and you’ll see why: Ulan Bator is booming. Construction cranes spike the sky. Traffic — Hummers and Lexuses, jacked-up jalopies and crammed city buses — churns. It’s impossible to ignore the economic surge that copper, gold and coal mining have brought to the city in recent years."
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