HOHHOT

Wade-Giles romanization Hu-ho-hao-t'e, Pinyin Hohhot, city and (since 1952) provincial capital of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region (tzu-chih-ch'), China. The city is a prefecture-level municipality (shih) and the command headquarters of the Inner Mongolian Military Region. It is situated in the upper valley of the Ta-hei Ho (westward-flowing tributary of the Huang Ho [Yellow River], which it joins on the northern side of that river's great loop) and south of a gap through the Yin Shan (mountains), which average 5,000 feet (1,500 m). The area was traditionally on the edge of the area settled by Chinese, and Hohhot grew up as a frontier trading centre. The original Mongol city Kuku-khoto (Mongolian: Blue City) was founded in the 16th century and was an important religious centre for Tibetan Buddhism (Lamaism). At the end of the Ming period (13681644) the area began to be settled by Chinese, who farmed the fertile plain and named the city Kuei-hua (meaning return to civilization). Eventually, in the late 18th century, a new Chinese city, named Suiyan, was founded some 2 1/2 miles (4 km) north of the old one. Later the two cities were combined under the name Kuei-sui, which became a considerable frontier market with a large Muslim trading community. In 1928, when Suiyan Province (sheng) was established as a part of the policy of bringing Inner Mongolia firmly under Chinese civil administration, the city became the provincial capital. During the Japanese occupation (193745) it became the capital of the pro-Japanese autonomous region of Meng-chiang. In 1952 it replaced Chang-chia-k'ou (Kalgan) as the provincial capital of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. Before World War II Hohhot was still primarily a trading centre, although its importance had grown rapidly since the completion in 1922 of the railway linking it to Peking and Tientsin in the east and Pao-t'ou to the west. It collected the produce both of the pastoral Mongols and of the local Chinese farmers. A handicraft industry grew up; leather was processed; and rugs, felts, and clothing were manufactured. Originally, the old (Mongol) city was the commercial centre and the new (Chinese) city the administrative and residential area. After World War II the two were completely merged, and the whole grew rapidly, trebling in population in a decade. Hohhot also developed into a fairly important industrial centre. Besides grain milling, tanning, oil extraction, and sugar refining from locally grown beets, a large woollen textile industry has grown up. A construction industry makes its own bricks and tiles, and a medium-sized iron and steel industry was established. There is also a large industrial chemical plant. During the early years after the Communists took over in 1949, Chinese settlement in Inner Mongolia was checked. By the early 1970s, however, expansion of cultivation to the north of Hohhot had brought major tractor and diesel engine factories to the city. In 1957 Hohhot became the seat of the first university in Inner Mongolia with an important medical and veterinary college. Schools, hospitals, a palace of culture, and theatres have made the city a regional cultural centre. Pop. (1990 est.) 652,534.