The reinvention of Mongolia – in pictures

Coal for sale by the roadside in Ulan Bator. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian

Pedestrians on the morning walk to work in Ulan Bator. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian

Nandin Tungalag, with her nephew Munkherdene Amarsanaa, aged one, near their traditional home in the Dari Ekh ger district to north of Ulan Bator. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian

The opencast mine at Tavan Tolgoi. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian

A couple in traditional dress walk through Sukhbaatar Square in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian

A statue of a miner near Tavan Tolgoi. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian

Camel herder Khuukenbaatar Genden, with his brother Otgonbayar Genden. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian

Jugder Batmunkh, who lives with asthma, inside her traditional ger home with coal burner. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian

A statue of Mongolian hero Sukhbaatar, in Ulan Bator Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian

Dari Ekh ger district, to north of Ulan Bator. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian

A layer of smog covers Mongolia's capital. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian

Children cart water in the Bayan Khoshuu district in the north of Ulan Bator. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian