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 There are a number of souvenir shops that sell Mongolian made goods like hand woven carpets, leather and woolen clothing, furs, cashmere, camel hair products, Mongolian oil and water paintings, and wooden toys, puzzles and games.

The most popular items are paintings, antiques, handicrafts, carpets, books, cashmere, traditional Mongolian clothing, leather goods, wall hangings, puzzles, and postcards, snuff bottles and woodcarvings. The food markets are well stocked on Mongolia, Russian, East and West European products although they may be a little more expensive than you expect. Many of the shops throughout Mongolia are in fact small kiosks within larger shops.

You will find that many shops sell the same things so you'll have to look hard to find exactly what you want. Along the streets of Ulaanbaatar you will find many 'Tuuts', small kiosks that sell snacks and general provisions. The most adventurous traveler may wish to go out to the infamous “black market”, which is a giant flea market on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar. Almost anything can be bought at this market, which is always very crowded.

There are many duty free shops where convertible currencies are acceptable. Wide range of goods may be bought for foreign currency at favorable prices; typical Mongolia souvenirs, wines, furs, garments in cashmere, camel wool blankets, national costumes, boots, jewelry, carpets, books, records, horns, etc. In all other local shops local currency must be used. 

Annual Average Prices of Main Goods

Goods 2002 2003 2004 2005
Flour, grade 1, kg
317 331 455 417
Rice, kg
453 453 595 707
Mutton, kg
1 076 1 352 1 596 2 124
Beef , kg
1 173 1 435 1 724 2 348
Milk, l
467 482 468 488
Kefir, litre
503 514 518 557
Butter, kg
3 705 3 793 3 796 3 857
Condensed milk, kg
3 367 3 404 3 450 3 601
Sugar, kg
623 558 578 630
Green tea, 2 kg
2 342 1 957 1 995 2 599
Apple,kg
722 763 860 814
Potato, kg
389 396 337 471
Cabbage, kg
495 500 475 503
Carrot, kg
568 491 410 649
Turnip, kg
635 510 436 734
Onion, kg
469 524 467 434
Salt,white,kg
266 223 221 250
Vegetable oil,l
1 206 1 368 1 484 1 600
Egg, piece
110 98 107 150
Alcohol, domestic, 0.5l
3 741 3 450 2 822* 3 000*
Pipe tobacco, 350 gr
1 548 1 652 1 660 1 750
Leather gloves, pair
6 731 5 985 5 365 5 573
Trousers, piece
12 500 12 960 12 333 12 100
Woollen sweater, piece
11 200 11 675 11 899 12 183
Sheep skin overcoat, piece
332350 321 667 295 000 294 371
Skirt, imported, piece
15 284 16 190 16 050 16 075
Blouse , imported, piece
19 567 20 104 20 753 21 063
Girl's winter overcoat, piece
14 017 19 283 18 250 21 350
Children's woollen sweater, piece
5 761 5 842 5 667 6 574
Girl's dress, piece
13 192 12 729 13 233 13 325
Men's winter leather shoes, pair
31 375 33 058 39 258 40 171
Women's warm leather boots, pair
70 000 62 496 56 750 55 950
Girl's shoes, pair
14 948 14 685 13 958 12 625
Chinese silk, m 2 987 3 060 2 781 2 707
Cotton cloth, m 503 566 603 740
Cloth "Daalimba", m 790 695 703 773
Coal, 1 ton 21 258 19 663 21 488 26 124
Fire wood, 1 sack -
780 780
880
White oil paint, litre 1 157 1 126 1 100 1 106
Electric cooker, piece
30 150
32 175
36 083 41 575
Light bulb, 60W
259
220
250
250
Carpet "Altanbulag", 2x3m
112 592
111 938
117 274
125 000
Washing detergent, 200gr
532
532
535
381
Laundry soap, piece
190
187
192
201
Beauty soap, piece
304
294
302
315
Tooth-paste, 130 gr
590
564
568
602
Aspirin, 6 tablets
100
109
113
129
Pennicillin, injection,1 mln
192
201
197
196

State Department Store

The State Department Store, located on Peace Avenue is Mongolia's largest store. It contains a varied selection of goods including many tourist items, which are located on the 4th floor. This floor also has cashmere goods, leather and fur coats and hats, machine and hand woven rugs, silver and copper items, watercolor and oil paintings, Mongolian vodka, jewelry, and illustrated books. There are several stores in Ulan Bator offering western and American goods. Some of the more popular stores include Sapporo and Centerpoint (small size supermarket), Naran Shop, Prestige and Magda Center (carries cleaning and cosmetic goods manufactured by Procter & Gamble). Business hours are generally 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. with lunchtime closing of an hour, usually 1-2 p.m.

Supermarkets

 You will soon get to know the main supermarkets in Ulan Bator if you are either staying in an apartment with a kitchen, stocking up for a trip to the countryside, or happen to be a vegetarian. These days there are very few things you can't get in the city if you look hard enough, though you may have to visit several markets to track them down. Most markets are open from about 10am to 8pm daily, and are worth a visit, if only for the atmosphere, fresh bread and tasty ice cream. 
The largest supermarkets in the City is Nomin, Minii Zakh (Dalai eej), and Mercury supermarkets. Nomin supermarket is located in the III micro district and ground floor of State Departmet Store. The market offers a variety of fresh and reliable products. Mercury is sort of a flea market for food  where you can bargain with individual vendors for all manner of imported goods, meat, cheese and vegetables, as well as luxuries like caviar and crab sticks, it is located behind the state circus. Dalai eej is run-of-the-mill supermarket and also has household and toiletries goods.

Souvenir Shops

Tourist shops are easy to find in the summer months, and one should make an effort to look beyond the pricey gifts shops at the main hotels. Note that some are not named, and are only known as 'art shop' or 'souvenir shop'. The following are worth shopping for:  Traditional embroidered boots with upturned toes, dels tied with silk scarves, fox fur hats and stylish Mongol jackets called 'hitunim' are mostly homemade but can be found in some shops.

Art & Antique Shops

Ulan Bator shops near downtown offer many antiques and artworks. Mongol-style paintings, books on Mongolian art, and traditional musical instruments make excellent gifts. Also antique shops offer a good range of old kettles, silver bowls, knives and Buddhist artwork. At the Ulan Bator Central Market, towards the back, is a section reserved for antiques and coin sellers (this is the best reason to visit the market). It is, however, illegal to take antiques out of the country unless purchased from an authorised shop (customs agents will ask for a receipt). There are many sticky fingers about so leave your valuables in the hotel.

Cashmere

There are several cashmere stores in Ulan Bator with products from the two largest cashmere producers in Mongolia, Gobi and Buyan. There is a cashmere store at the Gobi Factory, one by the Hanamasa Restaurant and another in the Third Microdistrict. Many other stores have small sections of cashmere clothing as well.





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Experts say copper prices to remain high for next two years

Market observers believe Mongolian copper prices will remain high for at least the next two years. One of the main reasons given for the continuing high prices are delays to planned mining projects caused by increasing percentages of revenues being funneled off by governments in Mongolia and Africa.