Mongolians brave sub-zero winter to welcome New Year

Snow and sub-zero temperatures were not enough to keep Mongolians indoors on Sunday, the first day of the Lunar New Year, when the first step out the door determines the path for the rest of the year.                                           

Ochirbating Amgalan, 71, rose early with his family on New Year's Day, to determine which direction was most auspicious for the year ahead.                                            

Then out they went in traditional robes, despite temperatures of degrees below zero Celsius (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit), heading northwest around their apartment building for good luck.                                            

"I had to read the mantra between seven and 21 times, but I have done seven, so that's enough," said his son-in-law, Tserenbaljiriin Ulziikhuu, 43, as the family scattered sawdust and chanted prayers for happiness and fortune.                                            

"Now I have corrected all the negative forces. Whatever direction I chose this year there won''t be any obstacles." Sunday begins the Year of the Iron Tiger for Mongolians, and is also celebrated by their cultural kin, the Tibetans.                                            

Chinese communities across Asia also welcomed the Year of the Tiger, with firecrackers, family reunions and visits to neighbours.

For land-locked Mongolians, sandwiched between Russia and economically mighty China, preserving traditions that stem from nomadic practice and Buddhist beliefs is important to keeping their cultural independence.                                            

Mongolians call the Lunar New Year the white month, or Tsagaan Sar, partly because of the thick snow covering the steppes but also to keep a clean and pure heart at the beginning of the year.                                            

Authorities frowned upon Tsagaan Sar celebrations and tried to stamp out the practice during the country's Communist era, when Mongolia was a satellite of the Soviet Union, but it is once again widely practised.                                            

Modern Mongolians in the capital often wear lighter colours for the white month. Many preserve other traditions, such as building their homes on the outskirts of the cities with doors facing South, as is traditional for felt tents, or gers.                                            

Hundreds of men and women greeted the sun on the New Year by climbing to a sacred cairn or 'ovoo' at the top of a hill near Ulan Bator, circling it three times and giving offerings before the sun rises.                                            

"For all Mongolian people, young and old, doing the ovoo ritual brings luck, well-being and energy for the whole year," said 71-year-old Ochirbatin Amgalan. Rituals observed, the festivities begin, with families gathering to eat mountains of dumplings in the warm indoors.