Things to do in  Hohhot

This Tibetan Buddhist temple—all that remains of what was once a much larger temple complex—is one of Hohhot’s most interesting places of worship. Its five pagodas are decorated with more than 1,500 colorful Buddha reliefs, and on one of the walls you’ll see a unique Mongolian astronomical map, carved in stone.

A high green mound set in landscaped gardens with statues, steles, museums, and a tent for dance performances, the Zhaojun Tomb is one of the biggest Han Dynasty tombs, standing as high as a 10-story building. It’s named for a famous beauty and Chinese heroine, Wang Zhaojun, who married a chief of the nomadic Xiongnu people in 33 BC.

A space-age structure with a sloping grass roof that echoes Mongolia’s rolling steppes, Hohhot’s Inner Mongolia Museum boasts more than 100,000 exhibits spanning eras from dinosaurs to space launches, plus cultural treasures. However, it’s paleontology that draws most travelers here, particularly the 85-foot (26-meter) nurosaurus skeleton and the wooly rhinoceros.

A huge Tibetan Buddhist temple complex, Dazhao Temple is one of Hohhot’s signature sights and draws pilgrims from across China. Worshippers bearing prayer wheels process past a blue-faced Medicine Buddha, a silver model of Sakyamuni (Buddha in human form), a stupa clad in prayer flags, a selection of deities, and an array of colorful murals.