Hohhot Travel Guide

Hohhot is the capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, its name meaning "blue city" in Mongolian. The center opens at the foot of the Daqing Mountains to the north, and the land has long been a meeting of farming and nomadic cultures. Its origins lie in a city wall built in the Ming dynasty, and today Mongols, Han, Hui and other peoples live here together.

In the old quarter, the Dazhao Temple is a Tibetan-Buddhist monastery built in the Ming dynasty, its grounds holding silver Buddhist statues, murals and carvings. Around it spreads a temple-front town of shops selling crafts and dairy products. Nearby stands the Five Pagodas Temple, and the Mongol-script astronomical chart carved on a pagoda wall is a valuable record of early astronomical knowledge.

South of the city lies the Zhaojun Tomb, said to be the tomb of Wang Zhaojun of the Han dynasty. Set within a broad garden, it is preserved as a site that recalls the exchange between the steppe peoples and the central plains. The city's museum introduces the natural grasslands and the life and costume of the Mongols.

Dairy products and lamb lead Hohhot's food: boiled salted lamb eaten by hand, salty milk tea with roasted millet, and dried milk curd are all favorites. On the grasslands north of the city, Mongol festivals are held in summer, with riding and archery competitions.