On a freezing night in early December in Zaisan, an area of luxury apartment blocks at the base of the Bogd Khan mountain, a dozen smartly dressed young professionals are viewing a show flat in the brand new Blue Sky Town.
The show flat, in this suburb south of Mongolian capital Ulan Bator, is being marketed by Mongolian entrepreneur U. Ganzorig and his joint venture partner, global hedge fund Cube Capital. It is one of 50 units in the 192-apartment block the developers are selling for up to US$260,000 each.
Among those checking out the apartments are a public-relations executive, an investment banker and a financial regulator. They debate whether the show flat's decor, which features a circular bed with green and black silk sheets, fake marble insets in the walls and white leather sofas, is tasteful or nouveau riche.
One attendee concedes he already has bought two apartments there.
What no one mentions is that this apartment, like the roughly 600 others in Zaisan's compounds, shouldn't exist.
The Bogd Kahn, which nomads believe is endowed with spiritual properties that protect Mongolia from harm, was designated a restricted area by a Manchu emperor in 1778, when the country was part of China.
