The city population is about 15, There is a spirit and beverage factory since , now it has a capacity to produce 15 tonnes of vodka in 24 hours. Altanbulag is the location of the Altanbulag Free Trade Zone.
Altanbulag began as a trading outpost across the Kyakhta River from the Russian town of Kyakhta during Qing rule of Mongolia in ; the name of that city was called Maimaicheng at the first and renamed to Kyakhta. People used other names such as "Mongolian Khyahta" and "Southern Kyakhata". Following the Treaty of Kyakhta in each side built a trading post on its side of the border. Construction began in , it was to feet south of Kyakhta, upstream on the small Kyakhta River.
The town was square, with wooden walls and, after , a three-foot wide ditch; each wall had a gate. Each gate had a foot watchtower ; the main avenues were about 25 feet wide. The larger houses had interior courtyards; these courtyards were better kept than the public areas.
The southwestern quarter of town was occupied by "Bukharans" as the Russians called traders from Central Asia. Women were forbidden to live in the town to keep Chinese merchants from becoming permanent residents; the rule was evaded but still in force in The post was administered by the'Dzgarguchei', replaced by the Lifanyuan every two years. For some purposes the Dzarguchei dealt with the Tushetu Khan in Urga , supervised by a Manchu resident.
Today, the town is known as Altanbulag in both the Buryat languages. Kyakhta trade Clifford M. Amarbayasgalant Monastery is located 48 km NE from the sum center.
