Ulaanbaatar’s [or Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia] winters are very cold, its temperatures reaching -25 degrees Celsius. Therefore, for those homeless people without homes to return to, winter is a relatively difficult season, and they have no choice but to go underground and near the heating pipes to avoid the winter cold. When it gets dark, like ants, they crawl into shared areas [underground], not blocking the roads, with no need at all to evict them, “absolutely” not harming the city’s appearances. Photographer: Paul Bronstein. Editor: Wang Pinwei. Photograph source: CFP.
2000 October 15, Ulaanbaatar, the 8-month pregnant 17-year-old young girl Altanchimeg crawls out from “home” to look for her livelihood. Altanchimeg says she has been living in this city for 8 years.
2000 October 15, Ulaanbaatar, Altanchimeg (right) and her friend Tsetsegee are at “home” preparing a meal, the two of them taking care of and depending on each other in life. Every winter, they live beside a nearby heating pipe to hide from the cold winter.
2000 October 15, Ulaanbaatar, Altanchimeg is brushing her hair, Tsetsegee (front) is on the side reading a book by candlelight.
2000 October 15, Ulaanbaatar, 11-year-old youth Menhtor, who has already learned how to get drunk, lies dazedly at the entrance to “home”.
2000 October 15, Ulaanbaatar, dead drunk Menhtor is asleep, having collapsed on the manhole cover.
2010 March 16, Ulaanbaatar, 36-year-old Erdenetsetseg sits at “home” observing a sky the size of a manhole cover. Five years earlier, Erdenetsetseg arrived in Ulaanbaatar. Without work, she has survived by collecting trash.
2010 March 16, Ulaanbaatar, Erdenetsetseg lies on a heating pipe to sleep.
2010 March 16, Ulaanbaatar, to make it more convenient to enter and exit, Erdenetsetseg uses cardboard [instead of the manhole cover] as a “front door”. To this end, she has also poked a hole in the cardboard to allow air circulation.
2010 March 15, Ulaanbaatar, Naranbaatar sticks his head out from his “home”, to feel the wind bask in the sun.
2010 March 16, Ulaanbaatar, drunk Naranbaatar lies at the hole, looking into his own “home”.
2010 March 16, Ulaanbaatar, deep night, a male falls asleep with the “door” open.
2010 March 16, Ulaanbaatar, 18-month-old baby boy Munkhorgil is sitting on his “home’s” bed pan yawning. Perhaps he should be called “sewer child” ["sewer second generation"].
Nikon Photo Contest International 2002-2003 winner: “Love and Peace (Ouyaa And Tsetsegee)”. In Mongolia’s Ulaanbaatar city center, a mother hugs her daughter at the “front door of her home”. The photographer successfully captured a rare expression of happiness of the “underground people”, showing their dignity of their lives. Photographer: James W. Hill (UK).
Some more photographs from Sohu: Erdenetsetseg, 36-years-old, is huddling her body for warm. Mongolia’s winters are very cold, the temperatures reaching -25 degrees Celsius. Therefore, for those homeless people without homes to return to, winter is a relatively difficult season, and they have no choice but to go into the city’s sewer system to live.
Erdenetsetseg often drinks until she is dead drunk.
A homeless person exiting the sewer.
Surrounding the heating pipes to stay warm.
At night, they can only use candles for light.
Drinking alcohol has become their only pleasure.
