The installation of the nearly-three story high Genghis Khan portrait — made with 437,000 crystal mosaic tiles by German workers based on a portrait of Genghis Khan in the National Palace Museum’s collection — is expected to be completed in April, said Chan Ming-chu, governor of Rotary International District 3480.

Already a landmark in Ulan Bator, the Genghis Khan portrait will be a place where all Mongolian people can conveniently worship and remember their great national founding father, said Migeddorj Batchimeg, Mongolia’s representative in Taiwan.

Batchimeg, who speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and has been instrumental in arranging the placement of the portrait at the Ulan Bator international airport, expressed her gratitude to members of the Rotary International District 3480 and National Palace Museum for the precious gift they gave to the Mongolian people.

Describing Genghis Khan as “the major source of pride” for Mongolia’s people, Batchimeg said he created the foundation for the largest empire in world history, which encompassed China, the Middle East, Russia and Central Asia at its peak under Genghis Khan’s grandson Kublai Khan, who ruled from 1260 to 1294 and founded the Yuan Dynasty in China.

During the time Mongolia was closely aligned with the Soviet Union, the Russians through their proxies in Ulan Bator tried to smear the image of Genghis Khan by saying he and his army caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, Batchimeg asserted.

After the fall of communism in Mongolia in 1990 and the adoption of new constitution in 1992, however, Genghis Khan was recognized again as the country’s hero and founding father and has since been worshiped and commemorated on a regular basis. Even the name of the capital city’s airport was changed to Genghis Khan International Airport three years ago, she said.

To many historians, Genghis Khan remains a puzzle because few artifacts related to him specifically have been left behind. As a consequence, Mongolians consider the portrait of Genghis Khan in Taipei’s National Palace Museum to be one of the most precious treasures connecting them to their founding father.

The 59.4 cm -- 47 cm color portrait on a silk sheet is thought to be a likeness of Genghis Khan in his sixties painted during the era of Kubilai Khan. It is generally accepted as the most accurate depiction of Genghis Khan and considered a “must see” by Mongolian officials or citizens whenever they visit Taiwan, Batchimeg said.

The mosaic reproduction of the portrait came to life because the Taipei based Rotary International District 3480, which had quietly sought to enhance bilateral relations between Taiwan and Mongolia, knotted sisterhood ties with the Niislel Rotary Club in Ulan Bator in 2004.

After paying visits to Taipei and viewing Genghis Khan’s portrait at the National Palace Museum several times, the Niislel Rotary members expressed their “dream” that the portrait would one day be returned to Mongolia.

While that dream has yet to be fulfilled, the Rotary Club’s Chan decided to do the next best thing and offer Mongolia a large reproduction based on the original. Chan’s husband and fellow Rotary Club member Wang Chen jung, who owns a building materials company that imports Italian and Spanish mosaic tiles, took the initiative in producing the giant portrait. He first approached National Palace Museum officials for their permission to reproduce the painting, and after long negotiations, the museum finally agreed to offer the Rotary Club a digitized image of the portrait early last year.

A thrilled Wang then ordered expensive 1 cm x 1 cm x 1 cm crystal mosaic tiles from abroad and recruited mosaic experts from Germany to prepare to travel to Ulan Bator to put together the portrait, which would stand 9 meters tall and 6 meters wide. The tiles were shipped to Ulan Bator in May last year, and the German workers assembled the portrait in September. It will be the centerpiece of an 11 meter by 7 meter monument to Genghis Khan when work is completed.

To many historians and peoples around the world, Genghis Khan is viewed as a destructive warlord capable of breathtaking cruelty, but Batchimeg said the man revered by Mongolians was responsible for many positive developments.

Genghis Khan’s mounted Mongol army consolidated the Silk Road, laying a solid foundation for trade, cultural and religious exchanges between East and West, and he also laid down laws that were similar to Mongolia’s existing constitution, Batchimeg said.

Diplomacy was developed in the Mongolian empire, where foreign envoys were respected and well-treated, while “golden plates” — similar to today’s passports — were used to facilitate diplomatic exchanges among nations, Batchimeg noted. And now Mongolians will be brought closer to their founding father through a project made possible with the assistance of Batchimeg’s Taipei Office, the Ulan Bator mayor, an ad hoc committee organized by the Mongolian Civil Aeronautic Administration and officials from the Genghis Khan International Airport, Chan said.

Chan said she and her husband as well as other Rotary Club memberswill travel to Ulan Bator in April to witness the inauguration of the Genghis Khan monument.

The two have also decided to visit rural areas of Mongolia later this year to inspect water-supply systems and help with the construction of deep-water wells around the drought-stricken country.

Batchimeg, who took graduate-level courses at Taipei’s National Chengchi University in 1997-1999, is a graduate of Beijing Language and Culture University.

One of the key figures in arranging the establishment of Taiwan and Mongolia representative offices in each other’s country, Batchimeg said she is glad that a result of increased bilateral ties Taiwanese friends no longer ask her questions like “Did you ride a horse to work in Mongolia?”