Meat is the basis of the diet, primarily mutton, with goat, horse, camel and yak meat dishes also on offer. Rice, flour, potatoes and onions are other main ingredients while green vegetables are rarely encountered outside the capital. The local cooking is quite distinctive.

Things to know: Many restaurants will add a sales tax.

National specialities:
• Traditional meals generally consist of boiled mutton with lots of fat and flour with either rice, pasta, noodles or dairy products.
• Boodog is the whole carcass of a goat or marmot roasted from the inside - the entrails and bones are taken out through the throat, the carcass is filled with burning hot stones and the neck tied tightly, and thus the goat is cooked from the inside to the outside.
• Popular in summer is horhog. This meal consists of chopped up goat, potatoes and onions slowly steamed inside a metal container. Scalding hot rocks are placed inside the container to create the steam and once extracted it is customary to pass the stones from hand to hand.
• The national food is buuz, a steamed dumpling filled with mutton. These are eaten in great quantities during the Tsaagan Sar (New Year) festival.
• Huushuur (a deep fried mutton pancake) is another popular food item, particularly during the summer Naadam festivities.

National drinks:
• Suutei tsai (salty tea with milk) is very popular.
• Mongolian vodka is excellent.
• Chinese and Korean beers are widely available.

Legal drinking age: 21 (minimum purchasing age).

Tipping: Not customary, but this is changing and 10% is the norm if leaving a tip.

There are evening performances at the State Opera and Ballet Theatre, State Drama Theatre and Puppet Theatre. The Moonstone Song & Dance Ensemble perform at Tsuki House while the Khatan Ekh National Song & Dance Group perform at the Discovery Mongolia Information Center. Provincial capitals also have theatres although performances are generally only staged during holidays. Circus entertainment is also very popular. The Tengis Cinema in Ulaanbaatar features Hollywood and Korean films, as well as Mongolian movies when they appear. Ulaanbaatar is teeming with bars, discos and restaurants. Night entertainment in provincial capitals is limited but some bars and nightclubs are generally available.

Ulaanbaatar is well-endowed with antique stores and souvenir shops. Best buys include landscape paintings, cashmere garments, camel-wool blankets, national costumes, boots, jewellery, carpets, books and handicrafts. The State Department Store (Ikh Delguur) has the largest selection of souvenirs and gifts in the country. Juulchin (Tourist) Street has several antique shops. When buying antiques be sure to get a certificate of sale that will allow you to take them out of the country.

The notorious Naran Market on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar is a large, crowded flea market which sells a huge variety of items. Suitable for the adventurous traveller, it is patronised mainly by local people. Pickpockets here are skilful, so leave valuables in your hotel.

Shopping hours: Daily 1000-1800 as a general guide although times and days vary considerably.