Mongolian costume is generally red, yellow or dark blue in color. A red or green waistband, flint steel, snuffbox and knife in an ornate sheath for cutting meat are accessories common to all men and women. Knee-high felt boots are a type of common footwear. Girls wear their hair parted in the middle, embellished with two large beads and agate, coral and green jade ornaments. In pastoral areas, beef, mutton and dairy products are the staple food, while in the farming areas, people like to eat grain.
Tea is indispensable.
Dried cow dung is a common cooking fuel. Mongolian herdsmen used to live in felt yurts, which were usually seven to eight feet high and ten feet in diameter. With an opening in the top of the umbrella-shaped roof, they give ideal ventilation and good protection against wind and cold. The Mongolians are warm-hearted and straightforward. They welcome strangers travelling on the grasslands to stay for the night in their yurts and treat them to tea with milk, mutton and milk wine.