Shanghai Tang & Polo in Mongolia

November 30, 2010 in Design, Luxury Travel, Media with Comments Off

Picture yourself at the ‘Steppes’ in Mongolia, against the foothills of the Himalayas. There are a few days in the dusty hot desert before the winter sets in where the world’s second oldest olympic games are held. The games, called Naadam, are a Chinese National event held in Ulaanbaatar, the Mongolian capital. The event has 3 disciplines: horseback riding, wrestling and archery. It dates back centuries and celebrates the camaraderie of warriors and sports enthusiasts alike.

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Polo Players in action at Monkhe Tengri.

The three ‘manly’ sports were augmented this past summer with the addition of Polo on horseback. Polo has long been a game for royalty or wealthy international players and teams due to the expense and difficulty of moving animals and equipment around from tournament to tournament. The irony is that polo has an illustrious history in Mongolia.

Genghis Khan, the brilliant war strategist and Mongolian national icon, used it to entertain and train his cavalry. His hordes transported what became known as “the game of kings” to every part of a vast empire that stretched from Korea to Europe in the 13th century. Yet polo has practically vanished in Mongolia itself. With a relatively small population, a huge horse culture, and vast grazing grounds the size of western Europe, it seems perfectly suited to the sport. Although the origins of polo may have been Persian or Indian, Mongolia is credited with its export to Europe.

This year in August, with the support of international style icon and retailer Shanghai Tang, and its parent company, Richemont, the event was sponsored to bring back to Mongolia this sport so well- suited to the magnificent and remote western reaches of China.

Christopher Giercke, owner of Ghengis Khan Polo and Riding Club, with Raphael le Masnae, the owner of Shanghai Tang.

The Genghis Kahn Polo Club, was founded by a German Filmmaker, Christopher Giercke, but was embraced by the locals and the Mongolians. The native Mongol team beat the elite and professionally trained western team by a huge margin. This was a great victory for a sport that was returned to ‘home’ by one of our favorite Hong Kong- based Design Groups, Shanghai Tang.