Beatles in Mongolia?

The Beatles never went to Mongolia.

Mongolia was a socialist regime in those days, and pop music from the western world was considered a danger to society. You could be thrown in jail for being a fan, and for owning or selling Beatles recordings and paraphernalia.

In Ulaan Baatar last June, a Mongolian friend surprised me when, arranging a place and time to meet, he said, “Let’s meet by the Beatles statue.”  Beatles statue?

Yes, just in front of the State Department Store, the fanciest store in town, there’s a street extending south with a wide pedestrian mall in the middle.  Just past the oversized inflatable pool with kids riding paddle boats in it, there’s a guitar-shaped wall with the Beatles in bronze, life size. 

(Pictured right: Namuul, our cook, sang for us in a reindeer villager’s teepee.)

The Beatles are an icon of freedom to the Mongols. Our guide, Tulga, said he remembered memorizing Beatles songs as a teenager, and secretly singing them with his guitar in a stairwell where he would not be heard. Talking about the socialist era, he said “We were like North Korea is now.” Wow, I had no idea it was that bad.

(Graduation day, Ulaan Baatar)