The city of Hohhot was officially designated as the capital of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture in 1952. The city is located about 400km west of Beijing.

Hohhot has been known by many names in its time. The area, for over a thousand years, was a popular resting spot for Mongol nomads. The city itself was officially established in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD), growing largely due to its religious buildings, and came to be called the City of Temples and Lamaseries (Zhaocheng). The Nationalist government under Sun Yatsen, and then Chiang Kaishek, were to refer to the city as Guisui, but with the Communist succession in 1950, it returned to its roots, being known in Chinese either literally as the Blue City (Qingcheng) or phonetically as Hohhot (Huhehaote or Huhaote).


Nowadays it is the Han Chinese that are in the majority here, closely followed by the Mongols that make up 11% of the total population and the Muslim Hui Minority.