Xincheng District 新城区

History

In 1735 the Qing court decided to build Suiyuan five li north-east of the town of Guihua (归化), as a base for troops facing the Dzungar Khanate (准噶尔汗国). Because Guihua, now Yuquan District (玉泉区), was older, it became the "old city" and Suiyuan the "new city"; together the pair were called Guisui (归绥). From 1737 the garrison was commanded by the General of Suiyuan (绥远城将军), a post held 78 times before 1909. Xincheng District was formally set up on the base of Suiyuan in 1953.

What to see

The Suiyuan General's Office (绥远城将军衙署) stands on the old town's central axis, north-west of the Gulou (鼓楼) interchange where Zhelimu Road (哲里木路) meets Xinhua Street (新华大街). Its five courtyards face south, and the 29-metre brick screen wall in front, carrying a stone plaque inscribed "屏藩朔漠" ("bulwark of the northern desert") in 1890, now serves as a divider in the middle of Xinhua Street. The third hall holds an exhibition on the uprising of 19 September 1949, when the Nationalist governor declared for the Communists and Suiyuan changed hands without a fight. With a surviving stretch of the Suiyuan city wall a few hundred metres to the north-east, the office was listed in 2006 among China's major historical and cultural sites protected at the national level.

The Princess Kejing Mansion (和硕恪靖公主府) on Saihan Road (赛罕路) was the residence of the Kangxi Emperor's sixth daughter, who married a Khalkha Mongol prince in 1697 and was settled at Guihua because war with Galdan (噶尔丹) made the lands to the north unsafe. Its four ranks of courtyards and 70 surviving rooms have housed the Hohhot Museum since 1990, and the site gained national protection in 2001.

The district government has built the Chilechuan Grassland (敕勒川草原) and Haraqin Ecological Park (哈拉沁生态公园) as part of its work on the front slope of the Daqing Mountains (大青山), and a 100-kilometre national hiking trail runs along the range.

Getting oriented

Hohhot Railway Station and Hohhot East Station both lie in the district, and metro lines 1 and 2 cross it. Hohhot East serves the Beijing–Baotou railway and the Hohhot–Zhangjiakou high-speed line. Xinhua Street, the city's main east–west avenue, runs through the district, and the regional and city government offices are based here.

Highlights

• Suiyuan General's Office 绥远城将军衙署: Seat of the Qing garrison general from 1737; listed nationally in 2006 with a surviving stretch of the Suiyuan city wall.
• Princess Kejing Mansion 和硕恪靖公主府: Home of the Kangxi Emperor's sixth daughter, now the Hohhot Museum; nationally protected since 2001.
• Chilechuan Grassland 敕勒川草原: Grassland and landscape project built by the district on the front slope of the Daqing Mountains.