Hohhot, capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is located on the Inner Mongolian plateau 425 kilometers northwest of Beijing. Bordering the Daping Mountains in the north and facing the Dahei River in the south, Hohhot is a beautiful city on the grasslands.

In Mongolian hohhot means "green city." The Xiongnus (Huns), the Xianpeis, the Tujues, and other minority nationalities of ancient China lived here in compact communities, giving the city a rich heritage of national cultures. It is now a major textile center. Other industries in which great progress has been made include leather, sugar, machine making, steel, and animal-product processing.