Hohhot Report - Hohhot Main Menu

A Full listing of Hohhot City Landmarks, Monuments, Hotspots and other sites of importance in alphabetical order. Search through the list to find your Full Report and Photo-Virtual Tour of each monument or landmark within the City, or Region of Hohhot in Inner Mongolia AR of China (PRC).

Archaeologists have unearthed two mural tombs dating back more than 1,000 years on the banks of the Yellow River in Hohhot in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Situated in Qingshuihe County, the two brick tombs consist of tunnel paths and rooms for the buried. No corpses have been discovered yet.

The well-preserved murals on the tombs' walls have various colors and themes. Other items, such as pottery jars, porcelain bowls and wooden saddles, were also found.

Founded in the early 16Th Century by the famous Shanxi Merchant clans as a large and important trading post along the main route into Mongolia and later a military stronghold of the Qing Dynasty (1644 AD - 1911 AD), Hohhot has quite a bit more history than its nearby rival Baotou. Where there are no worthwhile sites to find within Baotou other than its Steam Train Museum, the city of Hohhot - as the Capital- is home to the Inner Mongolia Provincial Museum and several other attactive places to visit.

Inner Mongolia Museum (Provincial Museum of Inner Mongolia AR):

Jiangjun Yashu Temple Museum:

Inner Mongolia Art Museum:

Inner Mongolia University Nationalities Museum:

Hohhot Science and Technology Hall

Peoples Square:

Dazhao Temple:

Yanshou Temple:

Guanyin Temple:

Wu Ta Monastery (Temple):

Xiletu Zhao Temple - acclaimed for its resident 11Th reincarnation Lama.

West Temple of the Dragon King:

Hohhot Town Mosque (Hohhot Chingzhen Da Si) dating to the Qing Dynasty:

Although the Cultural Revolution raged especially fiercely in Baotou and Inner Mongolia, the local Mosque was spared from total destruction. Today it is the most worthwhile Temple in the city, as the Xiletu Zhao Temple was destroyed by fire (possibly during the Cultural Revolution) and only recently rebuilt. Naturally, the Mosque also serves as the throbbing heart of the Hui Ethnic Community in the city of Hohhot most of whom work and live in the area surrounding it.

North Mosque (Muslim Bei Si):

Zhongzhan West Road Mosque:

Hohhot Muslim Xiaozi:

Kun Xiang Zi Mosque (Dongbei Muslim Dasi):

Muslim Dongda Monastery:

New Town Mosque:

Christian Church of Hohhot:

Limin Street Church:

Inner Mongolia Horse Racing Course:

Yet another site of interest is the Inner Mongolia Race-track in the Xincheng District of Hohhot. As the name suggest, this horse-racing and event stadium should be considered the National Stadium of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and thus it serves as the location for the yearly occuring main event in Hohhot and Mongolia, the Nadaam. Nadaam is the Mongolian National cultural festival held each summer.

Although outside of the Nadaam festival there is usually little activity at the stadium. During the one week long Nadaam event, the Stadium becomes the Home and playground of all ethnic nomadic peoples in the regions. Pay a visit if you can, preferably between July 17Th and the beginning of August, when Nadaam brings real Mongolian nomadic families to town.

Qingcheng Park:

Hohhot Daqingshan Wild Animal Zoo:

Among the other sites of tourist interest within the City of Hohhot is the Daqing Shan Wild Animal Zoo which combines with the Inner Mongolia Qingshaonian Ecological Park. A recent addition to the city, it is a -for China- remarkably modern zoo, teaching about animals as well as preservation of the environment.

Find the New Zoo due North of Beijiao Park and the Inner Mongolia Race-track. To get there, follow Tondao North Road, northward beyond the point where it passes underneath the G6 Jingzhang expressway (Toll Road). From there it is only a few hundred meters up the road to the main Gate.

Inner Mongolia Qingshaonian Ecological Garden:

Hua Wen and Bei Yuan Mansion:

A'Ertai Amusement Park:

Inner Mongolia Martyrs Cemetary:

Shiqi Park:

Manduhai Park:

Meixin Garden:

(Train Station)

Gongzhufu Park:

(Train Station)

Inner Mongolia University:

Shumuyuan Park:

Outside of Hohhot, in the immediate vicinity are two more Temples to visit. These are the Wusutu Zhao in the West, and the Bai Ta - White Pagoda in the East near the airport. The Wusutu Zhao, with its mix of Chinese and Tibetan architecture is the more interesting of the two, whereas the Bai Ta Temple offers a 7 Story octagonal Pagoda dating from the (Khitan) Liao Dynasty year of domination over much of northern China and little else.

The Book 'The Great Wall - the extraordinary history of China's wonder of the world', by John Man, mentions a further interesting Temple, one dedicated to the Mongol Queen known in Chinese (Han) culture as Lady Sanniangzhi and situated ' in Meidazhao, a few miles East of her home in Hohhot'. According to John Man, this Temple dated to the year 1607 AD of the Ming Dynasty supposedly is still in existence today (or was in 2006 when he visited the city). No specific location or directions to this Temple can be given at this time, however.

Yong'An Monastery: North of Town beyond the Daqingshan Wild Animal Zoo.

Gulin Renwen Memorial Park:

Daqingshan Bishu Mountain Villa:

Zhaojun Tombs:

Yuantong Temple: Acanban Cun of Bayan (zhen).

Dayao Cultural Site Museum:

Qingshan Park:

Due West of the City and north of the highway.

Honglingjin Dam and Honglingjin Reservoir:

Apart from the above listed official tourist sights to be visited within Hohhot and regions, there is one main monument that is usually overlooked and which goes completely unmentioned in most of today's travel guides. This monument however is nothing less than the Great Wall of China itself.

In the Mongolian Language "Hohhot" has the meaning of "Blue City".

Due to its location along various main roads and railways leading further into Inner- Mongolia and due to its function as Capital City, Hohhot acts as a gateway city into the large Autonomous Region. As a result it is a busy trading center and has grown to be a reasonably prosperous and modern City.

Hohhot has a Railroad Station as well as a National Airport.

As main sites of interest Hohhot is home to the (Provincial) Museum of the Inner-Mongolia Autonomous Region, one Temple and the Town Mosque, Qingzhen Da Si', which dates from the Ching Dynasty Era.

Until recently the Provincial Museum of Inner-Mongolia was the main tourist attraction in the City, except for the one-time per year Nadaam festival. The Museum is located in the Central City and is well worth a visit. Inside the large building which takes up an entire block on the corner of Xinhua Jie (New China Road) and Hulunbei'Er Lu, one can find a large pre'-historic collection including many fossilized skeletons of dinosaurs and mammoths, as well as staggering array of Mongolian Cultural Items.

The section of the Museum that highlights traditional Mongolian Culture is full of brightly colored uniforms and garments. There are traditional Mongolian tools, many items of horse-riding, archery and warcraft, and then even more.

Completely in line with the traditional beliefs of the (Eastern) Mongolians the Main Temple of Hohhot is a Buddhist Temple known as Xiletu Zhai. Find the Temple at some distance walking due South-West of the Inner-Mongolia Museum at Danan Jie.

Rebuilt in the 19Th Century after the original Temple burned down, Xiletu Zhai is considered important if not central in Mongolian Buddhist-Lamist Religion, as it is the official Home of the 11Th reincarnation of the Grand Buddha, the religious title of the ethnic Mongolian Religious Leader.

The current Temple however is modest and not very interesting. The building has some vaguely recognizable Tibetan features but is mainly of classical (north) Chinese Style.

It was closed for a long time during the Cultural Revolution Era (1966 AD - 1976 AD). For those who would like to enter and look around there is a small admission fee.

Nearby the Hohhot's Xiletu Zhai Buddhist-Temple at some distance North of its stands the Main Mosque of Hohhot City, which dates from the Ching Dynasty Era. The original mosque is still standing today built in the style of a Chinese Temple and complete with a Minaret. Hohhot's Qingzhen Da Si' is the main place of worship of the many Muslims , mainly Hui's and Uygurs, living in the City and wider area. Visit the site for either worship or just a look around. There is no admission fee. Naturally, one is expected to respect the Mosque rules and not enter into the worship area (except for prayers).

Furthermore, as a Mongolian City Hohhot is proud to own has a horse racing track annex training ground, a place that naturally serves as the gathering place for locals to attend the Ethnic Festivals. The Main and most renowned Mongolian Festival is Nadaam. Nadaam Festival is the Mongol National Festival and consist of three days celebrating Mongol identity and culture through traditional Games such as horse racing, archery, wrestling and even Camel Racing. Of course there is also abundant song and dance at Nadaam festival.

Tourism is only one of the important industries in the City. Surrounded by the wide grasslands of Inner-Mongolia, many tours are on offer.

Thanks to the Grasslands and the Mongol Tradition of Animal Husbandry the City of Hohhot is also nationally known as the home of China's dairy giants Mengniu and Yili, and was declared "Dairy Capital of China" by the Chinese National Government in 2006 AD.

Although eroded down by over 2 millenia of wind and weather, fallen into disuse and faded to an unmost unrecognizable shape, the historical signficance of this border wall and monument is so large that it cannot go unmentioned.

Situated to the North- and Northwest of Hohhot are several sections of the (alledged) first ever constructed Great Wall of China; parts of the legendary Wan Li Chang Cheng - the 10.000 Li Great Wall of China built by Ch'In Shi Huangdi (Chinese: 秦始皇) (Life: 259 BC – 210 BC), the notorious and dictatorial Leader if the first ever united China. During the reign of the Ch'In Dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC) the Chinese had for the first time settled the regions along the top of the main curve of the Yellow River (I.e. around Baotou and Hohhot and up the River). In order to protect their settlements from nomadic raids, it was decided to built two sections of wall in the desert and grasslands, seperating the Chinese from the nomad tribes in the North.

The first of these walls ran from near Hohhot and Baotou to the West and into the natural barier of Ling Shan mountains above Linhe. Parts of this wall, some constructed of mud only, other of mud and stone, were later integrated into the Han Dynasty Wall protecting those regions and cannot be found today.

The second and main Wall however was a mud and stone wall, which started somewhere to the south-west of Hohhot from where it ran through Hohhot eastward for 1000's of kilometers. This enormous wall supposedly lead as far east as the Liaoning Provincial border and beyond to curve around today's City of Shenyang and in fact almost entire Liaoning Province, pass through Tiger Mountain (Hu Shan) - today's (far) Chinese border with Korea, and continue onward to end near the city of Pyongyang, the current capital of North Korea (D.P.R.K.). Today only broken down ruins remain in the semi-desert grassland above Hohhot, but one can still head outthere to retrace this most ancient, and for its length possibly most impressive, of all walls.

Unfortunatly, no guide book nor source book gives precise details of how to get to the prime wall location near Hohhot. The spot is also not clearly marked as such on google maps. It can however be derived from various sources, that it is likely situated along S101 Provincial Road. The only alternative is the S104 Provincial Road situated more to the west.

There are no grasslands (Caoyuan) to be found immediatly outside of Hohhot, but there are some impressive semi-desert landscapes to be viewed as you will find when visiting the above mentioned outlying Temples. To take a tour of the grasslands and get but a small taste of something resembling the traditional feeling and way of life of the nomadic herders on the grasslands one has to book a minimum two day tour, which is possible from Hohhot. Go to local travel agency, your Hotel or CITS Office to book one that is most to your liking. In most cases there are three main area's to choose from: Xilamuren, Gegentala and Huitengxile. The Xilamuren Caoyuan are the most visited at about two hours bus travel from Hohhot City. Gegentala lies but an hour further away, depending on traffic, and Huitengxile at 3.5 hours from Hohhot remains the least visited grasslands area.

Remember, every trade in China means bartering, so in case you are dealing with a private agency, it is not always necessary to agree upon the named price immediatly.

A Special occassion and Festival to be found in Hohhot is the Mongolian Festival of Nadaam. Traditionally the yearly occassion for all ethnic Mongolians to celebrate their culture, heritage and lately again -unity, it is a must see and witness if you have the chance. Mongolian People flock from all over the large Province and beyond to be a part of the gathering, crowding out the Han, erecting a Town of Mongolian Gers on the outskirts of Town and brightening up the streets and festival with their colorful Mongolian dress. It is one of the few occassions for hich these clothes are still worn.

A Nadaam festival is an ancient Mongolian traditional gathering which in modern times includes wrestling, horseracing, archery and other Mongolian Folk activities. Traditionally held at around the time when the grass is greenest in Inner-Mongolia, which varies with the year but is usually in late July or early August, Nadaam is THE event to get a taste of what the Mongolian Culture is all about.

To be a part of it: Make sure you are aware of the correct date of the event. The horse riding track which is usually the center of the activities lies conveniently at about 1.5 kilometers due north of the Town Center.