World’s coldest capital seeks to kick its deadly coal habit

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: Mongolians have long relied on folklore to explain how miserably cold their winters are.

Residents walk through one of the so-called ger districts in
 Ulaanbaatar. According to government figures, around
80 per cent of the capital's air pollution is produced by
people living in the districts.

During the first of nine phases of winter - each composed of nine days, starting on December 22 - it is said that vodka made from milk freezes.

During the third set of nine days, when temperatures can hit -40 degrees in both Fahrenheit and Celsius, the tail of a three-year-old ox is said to fall off. Around the sixth set of nine days, which falls in the middle of February, roads are expected to re-emerge from underneath the ice and snow.

But for the nearly 1.5 million residents of the capital, Ulaanbaatar, the misery of winter is now defined almost singularly by the smoke rising out of the city's chimneys.

Read Bryan Denton’s story from The Age - “World’s coldest capital seeks to kick its deadly coal habit.”