Hohot

The city of Hohhot, located about 400km west of Beijing, is at an altitude of 1,500 meters above sea level. The city is known mostly as a stopping point for travellers who wish to sample the grasslands that can be found from 80 to 170km from the city or for those moving on to the Republic of Mongolia to the north.

Hohhot has been known by many names in its time. The area, for over a thousand years, was a popular resting spot for Mongol nomads, and grew to become the "Blue City", an allusion to the azure skies that are rarely troubled by cloud. The city itself was officially established in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD), growing largely due to its religious buildings, and came to be called the City of Temples and Lamaseries (Zhaocheng). The Nationalist government under Sun Yatsen, and then Chiang Kaishek, were to refer to the city as Guisui, but with the Communist succession in 1950, it returned to its roots, being known in Chinese either literally as the Blue City (Qingcheng) or phonetically as Hohhot (Huhehaote or Huhaote).

The city was officially designated as the capital of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture in 1952, and has now become the prefecture's economic and political center. With a population of just over 800,000, the city is not overly big, although is the second largest in the province. Much has changed in the city since the early twentieth century, and its fame as city of temples and lamaseries is somewhat offset by the predominant high-rises and modern buildings that now make up much of the city. The majority of industry here is centered upon machine building, refineries, other factories and the production of hide and wool. Tourism is also a big earner, as anyone meeting the train station's swarms of touts will soon find out.

Nowadays it is the Han Chinese that are in the majority here, closely followed by the Mongols that make up 11% of the total population and the Muslim Hui Minority. It is in the southwestern end of the city, around the Xilituzhao and Dazhao temples, that these and other minorities can be found, including the Ewenki, the Daur and the Manchurian groups.

Much of the history of this area may have been lost from the face of the modern city but there are a few things that bring back the past. One is the symbol of Inner Mongolia, the rearing horse, that has been appearing all around Hohhot, a throwback to the days when screaming hordes of Mongols conquered over half the known world. This was best highlighted when a stone figure of Chairman Mao was removed from the city center's lively Xinhua Square, to be replaced by a statue of a galloping horse. The history is also brought back to life in the city's Prefectural Museum, that has a flying horse fittingly attached to its roof, and in the celebration of the Naadam Festival (see end of Inner Mongolian Best Time to Visit) that passes through the streets and houses around August every year.