Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Tamiraa Narantsatsral paints a recycled wine bottle at the Natsagdorj Library in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Tamiraa is part of a Facebook group, “Redesigned Fashion. Lifestyle,” that saves and redesigns recycled materials, like glass bottles and clothing, to promote environmentalism.

Bayandalai, Umnugovi Province, Mongolia

Gansukh Sharavsambuu carries fodder to a storage facility in southern Mongolia’s Umnugovi province. The animal feed will be provided to herders who are suffering from a dzud, a Mongolian term for a severe winter in which it is common for a large number of livestock to die.

Oyunsuvd Enkhbold, front, and Mishigsuren Namjil look through binoculars while on a date to a 10-meter-high observation tower in the forest known locally as Tujiin Nars, in Mongolia’s Selenge province. From 1986 to 2002, large fires destroyed 70% of the pine forest. After rehabilitation projects, 70,805 hectares (273 square miles) of the forest were restored. It’s now a national park.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Odgerel Bayasgalan paints his graduate thesis painting, a self-portrait titled, “My Story,” in his home in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Odgerel, 20, is in his last year in the painting program at the School of Fine Arts and Design at the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture.

Erdenet, Orkhon Province, Mongolia

Terbish Munkhbayasgalan, left, a 12th grade student, and Gantulga Odonbyamba, in 10th grade, write in traditional Mongolian script during “Book Festival,” an event to encourage preservation of the script and traditional culture, in Erdenet, a city in Mongolia’s Orkhon province. Terbish and Gantulga both take an extracurricular class at school to practice this writing system.

Erdenet, Orkhon Province, Mongolia

Tuvshinjargal Batsukh, an actress at the Children and Youth Theater in Orkhon province, reads books to children during a book festival held at Amar Square, in Erdenet, Mongolia. Tuvshinjargal participated to encourage parents to read to their children.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

To promote traditional Mongolian script through art, Sergelen Bayasgalan, left, and Togtuun Erdenebileg paint a poem in the script along with a portrait of the author, Rinchen Byambyn, a founder of modern Mongolian literature, on a wall in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The poem reads, “Although there are many beautiful places in this colorful universe / There is no place more beautiful than my native land / Although every language is great to study virtue / There is no greater language than our mother tongue.”

Khuvsgul, Mongolia

Ganbold Lkhamaa compresses cans and plastic bags and containers with a machine at his home in Mongolia’s Khuvsgul province. Since there isn’t a location to recycle waste in Khuvsgul, for the past 10 years Ganbold has bought recyclable waste to compress and transport to a recycling center in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city.

Murun, Khuvsgul Province, Mongolia

Erdenechimeg Enkhbat spots Uranbayar Delgermaa, 10, during a contortion class at the Contortion Center at the Children’s Palace in Murun, a city in Mongolia’s Khuvsgul province. According to a 2013 order from the Minister of Education, Culture, Science and Sports, contortionism is on the national register of Mongolia’s intangible cultural heritages – and urgently needs to be preserved.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Gegeen Amgalan, 13, fills a bottle with lip gloss at her home in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Gegeen learned how to make lip gloss in March by watching videos online. She’s used her free time during the coronavirus pandemic to perfect her product, adding flower petals to change the flavors.

Bayandalai, Umnugovi, Mongolia

During a traditional ceremony, Buyandalai Ulambayar gallops on his horse while offering horse milk to the air with a tsatsal, a ceremonial wooden milk spoon, in Bayandalai soum, Umnugovi province, Mongolia. During the ceremony, he chants, “Tsegeend tsad,” which means, “May we have plenty of food!”

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Uranzaya Jamiyansuren tends vegetables in the greenhouse at her home in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Uranzaya and her neighbor Munkhbaatar Tsogzolmaa built the greenhouse three years ago to grow food for their families’ consumption.

Dalanzadgad, Umnugovi Province, Mongolia

Enkh-Erdene Amartuvshin, 2, plays with a baby gazelle at her home in Dalanzadgad, a district in Mongolia’s Umnugovi province. The family rescued the fawn after a dog killed its mother.

Bayandalai, Umnugovi Province, Mongolia

Bilguun Ariunbolor, 12, moves lambs to be castrated during a traditional ritual in Bayandalai, a district in Mongolia’s Umnugovi province.

Dalanzadgad, Umnugovi Province, Mongolia

Sodmandakh Sodovjamts, 16, front, and Enkhtamir Batbayar, 15, swim at a new pool in Dalanzadgad, the capital of Mongolia’s Umnugovi province. At the grand opening of this first swimming pool in Umnugovi province, athletes from Ulaanbaatar city demonstrated many styles of swimming.

Dalanzadgad, Umnugovi Province, Mongolia

Saikhansanaa Batbayar draws on old clothes with Dashnyam Erdenebadrakh, top left, and Bulgantsetseg Batsukh, bottom left, in Dalanzadgad, the capital of Mongolia’s Umnugovi province. Students organized an event called “Let’s make our clothes art!” to have a fun and productive day with friends. They took measures to prevent infection by reminding children at the event to wear face masks and distributing spare masks.

Orkhon Province, Mongolia

Gantushig Uranchimeg, an 11-year-old monk-in-training, participates in a ceremony to worship ritual vases at Khutagt Lama Gandanshadivlan Monastery in Mongolia’s Orkhon province. The ceremony, known as bumba, is meant to bring blessings and wealth to worshippers.

Dalanzadgad, Umnugovi Province, Mongolia

Margad-Erdene Erdenebileg, 18, left, and Yusunkhusel Gantumur, 11, center, wear traditional garments called deels and play the morin khuur, a horsehead fiddle, with members of the Altan Mazaalai band in Dalanzadgad, the capital of Mongolia’s Umnugovi province. The band played at the grand opening of a new theater, where children disinfected their hands and wore face masks and disposable shoe covers.

Murun, Khuvsgul Province, Mongolia

Otgonsuren Altan-Ochir, 17, paints cloth bags with eco-friendly paints at Tenkhleg, a department store in Murun, Khuvsgul province, Mongolia. Otgonsuren is making an effort to be more environmentally conscious by using these reusable bags.

Bayandalai, Umnugovi Province, Mongolia

Khurbilguun Sergelen, 14, shears a sheep at his neighbor’s home in Bayan, a neighborhood in the Bayandalai soum of Mongolia’s Umnugovi province. Every June and July, herders in Mongolia shear all their sheep.

Dalanzadgad, Umnugovi Province, Mongolia

Budsuren Uyanga, left, 15, and Bilguun-Orshikh Dagvasambuu, 14, demonstrate taekwondo in Dalanzadgad, a soum in Mongolia’s Umnugovi province. The Federation of Olympic Taekwondo was established in Umnugovi in July this year. Adolescent athletes from Ulaanbaatar’s Nuudelchin Taekwondo Club came to Umnugovi and organized a two-day taekwondo demonstration for the launch of the Federation.

Orkhon Province, Mongolia

From left, Narantsogt Gombosuren, Enkhmanlai Erdenebat and Bat-Erdene Narantsogt build a ger, or Mongolian yurt, at the Gombosuren family’s summer camp in Orkhon district, in northern Mongolia’s Bulgan province. Herder families lead nomadic lives in the countryside as they herd cattle to different seasonal camps throughout the year.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Odgerel Bayasgalan, 20, tapes the walls of the sports hall at General Education School No. 11 to paint a mural about the love and protection of nature in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Mongolia closed its borders to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but local tourism increases over the summer.

Erdenet, Orkhon Province, Mongolia

Erdenetsogt Davaajav cooks mutton shashlik, a dish of skewered and grilled cubes of meat, during Naadam, a national festival in Mongolia. During the festival, people visit the Central Stadium in Erdenet, a city in northern Mongolia, to watch wrestling, archery, anklebone shooting and horse racing. People also enjoy traditional foods, such as shashlik, airag (fermented mare’s milk) and khuushuur (a meat pastry or dumpling).