呼和浩特市

Why this place

Hohhot means 'blue city' in Mongolian, and it has been the main city of Inner Mongolia since the Ming dynasty. It is where Mongolian, Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist traditions meet — the temples in the old town are older and less reconstructed than almost anywhere else.

What to see

• Dazhao Temple, built in 1580, with a silver Buddha and Ming-dynasty dragon carvings
• The Five Pagoda Temple, with a wall of 1,563 carved Buddhas and astronomical diagrams
• Inner Mongolia Museum, the best place to understand the steppe, Xiongnu and Mongol layers
• The grasslands at Xilamuren or Huitengxile, 1–2 hours out

What to eat

• Hand-cut mutton (shouba rou) — boiled, eaten with salt and your fingers
• Milk tea with salt, and milk skin, milk tofu and other dairy
• Roast whole lamb for a group, and koumiss (fermented mare's milk)

Best time

July–September for the grasslands; the Naadam festival is in July

Practical tips

• On the grassland, the temperature drops sharply at night even in summer
• Yurts rented to tourists are comfortable but not a nomadic household — ask before expecting that