Hohhot

Hohhot (Chinese: 呼和浩特; pinyin: Hūhéhàotè; Mongolian: Kökeqota; Khalkha: Хөх хот Höh hot, /xɵxˈxɔtʰ/), abbreviated Hushi (Chinese: 呼市; pinyin: Hūshì), formerly known as Kweisui (simplified Chinese: 归绥; traditional Chinese: 歸綏; pinyin: Guīsuí), is the capital of Inner Mongolia in North China, serving as the region's administrative, economic, and cultural centre.

Its population was 2,866,615 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 1,980,774 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made up of 4 urban districts.

The name of the city in Mongolian means "Blue City"—Kuku-Khoto in Mongolian—although it is also wrongly referred to as the "Green City." The color blue in Mongol culture is associated with the sky, eternity and purity; in Chinese, the name can be translated as Qīng Chéng (Chinese: 青城), literally, "Blue/Green City."

The name has also been variously romanized as Kokotan, Kokutan, Kuku-hoton, Huhohaot'e, Huhehot, Huhehot, Huhhot, or Köke qota.

History

Mongol era

Marco Polo reports traveling to the Province of Tenduc, which has been identified as the region around the modern-day Hohot. His itinerary took him from Tangut nation he called the "Kingdom of Egrigaia" (modern-day Ningxia), and he took a route eastward into Tenduc.

Ming and Qing era

In 1557, the Tümed Mongol leader Altan Khan began building the Da Zhao Temple in the Tümed plain in order to convince the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) government of his leadership of the southern Mongol tribes. The town that grew up around this temple was called the "Blue Town" (Kokegota in Mongolian). The Ming had been blockading the Mongols' access to Chinese iron, cotton, and crop seeds, in order to dissuade them from attacking the northern China plain. But in 1570, Altan Khan successfully negotiated the end of the blockade by the establishment of a vassal-tributary relationship with the Ming, for which the Ming renamed Kokegota to Guihua (Chinese: 歸化; pinyin: Guīhuà; Wade–Giles: Kweihua; literally: "Return to Civilization") in 1575. The population of Guihua grew to over 150,000 in the early 1630s as local Mongol princes encouraged the settlement of Han Chinese merchants. Sometimes Mongol armies attacked Guihua, such as the total razing of the city by Ligdan Khan in 1631. Altan Khan and his successors constructed temples and fortress in 1579, 1602 and 1727. The Tümed Mongols had long been semiagricultural there. Hui merchants gathered north of the gate of the city's fortress, building a mosque in 1693. Their descendants forms the nucleus of the modern Huimin district.

After the Manchus founded the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), the Kangxi Emperor (reigned 1661–1722) sent troops to control the region, which was interesting to the Qing as a center of study of Tibetan Buddhism. The Qing dynasty built a strong garrison town near Guihua's northeast called Suiyuan (綏遠), supervising southwestern Inner Mongolia in 1735–39 against Mongol attacks from the north.:13 Guihua and Suiyuan became Guihua County (歸化縣) of Qing China. French missionaries established a Catholic church in Guihua in 1874, but the Christians were forced to flee to Beijing during the antiforeign Boxer Rebellion of 1899–1901.

Republican era

In 1913, the government of the new Republic of China united the garrison town of Suiyuan and the old town of Guihua as Guisui (Kweisui) (歸綏; Guīsuī; Kweisui). Guisui town was the center of Guisui County (歸綏縣) and the capital of Suiyuan Province in northern China. A bubonic plague outbreak in 1917 and the connection of Guisui to railway links in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei and Beijing helped renew the economy of Guisui town, by forming links between eastern China and western China's Xinjiang province.:15 In 1918, the American specialist of Inner Asia Owen Lattimore noted Guisui's ethnic composition as "A town purely [Han] Chinese except for the Lama monasteries ... the Tümeds are now practically nonexistent and the nearest Mongolians are to be sought at 50 or 60 miles distance on the plateau.":15 During the progressive Japanese invasion of China in the 1930s, the Japanese created the puppet state of Mengjiang headed by Prince De, who renamed Guisui to "Blue City" ("Hohhot" or Huheshi). After the surrender of Japan in 1945, the Republic of China renamed the city back to its original name, Guisui.:16 The Communist Party of China's forces drove out the Republic's General Fu Zuoyi in Suiyuan during the Chinese Civil War. After the Chinese Revolution in 1949, Guisui was renamed Hohhot.:16

Geography

Located in the south central part of Inner Mongolia, Hohhot is encircled by the Daqing Shan (大青山, lit. Great blue Mountains) to the north and the Hetao Plateau to the south.

Culture

Due to its relatively diverse cultural make-up, and despite its characteristics as a mid-sized Chinese industrial city, the Hohhot street scene has no shortage of ethnic minority elements. Tongdao Road, a major street in the old town area, is decorated with Islamic and Mongol exterior designs on all its buildings. A series of government initiatives in recent years have emphasized Hohhot's identity with ethnic minority groups, especially in increasing Mongol-themed architecture around the city. All street signs as well as public transportation announcements are regulated to be in both Chinese and Mongolian.

Dialect

Older Hohhot residents mostly tend to converse in raw Hohhot dialect, a branch of the Jin language from neighbouring Shanxi province. This spoken form can be difficult to understand for speakers of other Mandarin Chinese dialects. The newer residents, mostly concentrated in Xincheng and Saihan Districts, speak Hohhot-based Mandarin, the majority also with a noticeable accent and some unique vocabulary.

Cuisine

Food specialty in the area is mostly focused on Mongol cuisine and dairy products. Commercially, Hohhot is known for being the base of nationally renowned dairy giants Yili and Mengniu. The Mongol drink suutei tsai ("naicha" 奶茶 in Chinese, "milk tea" in English), which has become a typical breakfast selection for anyone living or visiting the city. The city also has rich traditions in the making of hot pot and shaomai, a type of traditional Chinese dumpling served as dim sum.

Transport

Airport

Hohhot's Baita International Airport (IATA:HET) is about 14.3 km (8.9 mi) eastwards from the city centre by car. It has direct flights to larger domestic cities including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, etc. It also has international flights to Taichung, Hong Kong, and to Ulan Bator, Mongolia.

Railway

Hohhot lies on the Jingbao Railway from Beijing to Baotou, and is served by two railway stations: Hohhot Railway Station and Hohhot East Railway Station. The line began operation since 1921. Trains to Beijing link to destinations to the south and the northeast. The most prominent rail link with Beijing is the overnight K90 train, which has served the Hohhot-Beijing line since the 1980s and is referred to colloquially as the "9-0". Westbound trains go through Baotou and Lanzhou. There are also rail links to most major Inner Mongolian cities and to Ulan Bator, Mongolia.

Because the quickest trip to Beijing takes around six and a half hours despite the close distance of the cities, plans for high-speed rail has been discussed for years, and construction of a high-speed railway station began in 2008. The station was completed in 2011 and initially serviced only ordinary lines. In January 2015, CRH opened its first D-series (dongchezu) route in Inner Mongolia in the Baotou-Hohhot-Jining corridor, shortening travel time between Inner Mongolia's two largest cities a mere 50 minutes. This line reached a maximum speed of 200 km/h between Hohhot and Baotou. Another high-speed rail linking Hohhot to Zhangjiakou and the planned Beijing-Zhangjiakou 200 km/h railway is due for completion in 2017, and designed to operate at 250 km/h.

Expressways

An expressway built in 1997 links Hohhot with Baotou, then known as the Hubao Expressway. In recent years this expressway has been expanded eastwards to Jining and Zhangjiakou, and onto Beijing as part of the G6 Beijing–Lhasa Expressway (Jingzang Expressway). The city is en route of China National Highway 110, which runs from Yinchuan to Beijing. China National Highway 209 begins in Hohhot and is southbound towards southern China, with its southern terminus in Guangxi. Hohhot is connected to its northern counties through the Huwu Highway, which was completed in 2006. Previously travel to the northern counties consisted of lengthy navigation through mountainous terrain.

Long distance buses connect Hohhot to outlying counties, the cities of Baotou, Wuhai, Ordos, and other areas in Inner Mongolia.

Public transport

Hohhot's major north–south thoroughfares are called road(Lu) and its east–west thoroughfares are called street(Jie). This is roughly equivalent to dividing roads into "street" and "avenue" designation according to direction, a practice used in some North American cities. The largest elevated interchange is near the site of the city's Drum Tower(Gulou), after which it is named. Several major streets are named after Inner Mongolian leagues and cities; among these, Hulun Buir, Jurim(now Tongliao), Juud(Now Chifeng), Xilin Gol, and Xing'an run north–south, while Bayannaoer, Hailar, Ulanqab and Erdos runs east–west.

The city's public transit system is composed of nearly one hundred bus routes and a large fleet of taxicabs, which are normally green or blue. The bus fare is 1 yuan. The taxi fare begins at 8 yuan.

Notable landmarks

There were over 50 Ming and Qing Buddhist temples and towers in Guihua and Suiyuan.

• Zhaojun Tomb (昭君墓), located about nine kilometers south of the city center. It is said to be the tomb of Wang Zhaojun, a woman from the Han Empire who married a Xiongnu Chanyu (king).
• Temple of the Five Pagodas (五塔寺), completed in 1732 with architecture very similar to that of Indian temples. On its walls there are more than 1,500 figures of Buddha.
• Da Zhao Temple (大召), a Buddhist monastery constructed in 1579, the oldest in the city.
• Inner Mongolia Museum (內蒙古博物院), main exhibits include dinosaur fossils, historical artifacts of nomadic peoples, and the cultural life of modern nomadic peoples.
• Altan Khan statue - impressive statue to the city's founder
• Qingcheng Park (青城公園), formerly People's Park, in the city center
• Great Mosque of Hohhot (清真大寺)
• Baita Pagoda (白塔)
• Mansion of Princess (固倫恪靖公主府)

• The sculpture of "Milk Capital" symbol

• Great Mosque of Hohhot