Everyone's friend: How Mongolia stays on good terms with Russia, China and western powers

The first luxury hotel to be built in Mongolia and once the only one with a constant supply of hot running water, the Ulaanbaatar Hotel is now something of a curiosity of Soviet-era architecture. But for a couple of decades after it opened in 1961, this monumental building with its broad, 17-bay facade, was a rare, cosmopolitan venue in a remote, landlocked country under communism. "The world was divided, uncertain, and even on the brink of war. During this time, the Ulaanbaatar Hotel was a home for many foreign diplomats and curious international journalists," said Mendee Jargalsaikhan, director of Mongolia's…