A closer look
Forget your sanitized local county fairs; Naadam is a spectacular display of raw survival skills dressed up as a national holiday. Originating from ancient military parades and wedding assemblies, the festival focuses on wrestling, archery, and horse racing. The horse races are particularly insane, covering up to 30 kilometers across the unforgiving steppe, ridden almost entirely by children as young as five because of their light weight. Meanwhile, the wrestlers wear highly specific open-chested shirts—a sartorial rule supposedly instituted after a woman secretly entered and defeated all the men centuries ago.
