Hohhot overview 呼和浩特

About Hohhot

Dazhao's Buddhist images, Xilitu Temple's courtyards and Saishang Old Street's shopfronts show how religious foundations and commerce shaped Guihua, one of the city's predecessors. The larger metropolitan area extends far beyond this quarter. For a first visit, a compact old-city circuit gives a clearer introduction than attempting to combine it immediately with distant grassland excursions.

The name Hohhot means 'Blue City' in Mongolian; the city was formerly called Guisui (归绥) and is also known as Qingcheng (青城). Stone tools found northeast of the city in 1973, belonging to the Dawa culture (大窑文化) and dated to about 500,000 years ago, show early habitation contemporary with Peking Man.

In 1572 the Tumed leader Altan Khan (阿勒坦汗) built a walled town here, which the Ming court, in the Wanli era (万历), named Guihua (归化). A separate garrison city, Suiyuan (绥远城), was built to its east under the Qing between the 13th year of the Yongzheng era and the 4th year of the Qianlong era, and the two towns were later merged. The merged city was renamed Guisui in 1913 and became capital of Suiyuan Province in 1928.

Hohhot lies at the southern edge of the Mongolian Plateau on the southern side of the Yin Mountains (阴山山脉), with the Manhan Mountains (蛮汉山) to the southeast and the Tumochuan Plain (土默川平原) to the southwest. The Yellow River runs along its southwestern border, and the Dahei River (大黑河) flows from the northeast through the urban area before joining the Yellow River.

What to look for

• Dazhao's silver Buddha and temple architecture.
• Xilitu Temple's stupa and Saishang Old Street's historic trading frontage.

The surrounding area

Autonomous-region capital and urban base for temple streets, museums and local breakfast traditions.

Location & getting there

Getting to Hohhot

For this old-city introduction, start at Dazhao Square and Dazhao Qianjie in Yuquan District.

• Hohhot and Hohhot East are different railway arrival points; plan the onward city transfer to the old quarter from your actual station.