Walking Tours

Getting There: Starting from the railway station, walk west on Chezhan Xi Jie to Tongdao Jie. Take bus no. 6 going south, and get off at the stop called Xiao Shizi.

Start: Xiao Shizi bus stop.

Finish: Zhongshan Jie.

Time: Half a day.

Best Times: 8am to 4pm any day.

Hohhot's most renowned temples, Da Zhao, Xilitu Zhao, and Wuta Si, are in the oldest parts of town -- the Yuquan District in the southwest corner of the city. Just to the north is the Muslim Quarter (Huimin Qu) with Hohhot's Qingzhen Da Si (Great Mosque). Before long, every trace of the flat-topped mud-and-brick houses and storefronts that used to dominate this area will be gone; for a glimpse of the past, go now. By setting out an hour earlier, it's possible to add the Great Mosque to your walk. Better still, devote a full day to the four sites and explore the Muslim Quarter, too.

From the Xiao Shizi bus stop, walk about 50m (160 ft.) west on the small street called Tongshun Dong Jie. The temple is on the right.

1. Da Zhao

It's said that at one time this 6th-century temple (Apr-Sept 8am-7:30pm, Oct-Mar 8:30am-5:30pm; ¥20/$2.60/£1.30) had over 400 lamas in residence. Later, the Qing government (1644-1911) decreed that no more than 80 could live in Hohhot's earliest Tibetan temple. Today Da Zhao houses 16 students from all over Inner Mongolia and only about 50 monks, but it is still an active center of Buddhist worship. Unlike Beijing's famed lamasery, Yonghe Gong, Da Zhao looks and feels much more like the monasteries of Tibet, but with Chinese characteristics. Instead of offerings of tsampa (roasted barley), devotees leave mounds of uncooked rice; and the pervading smell is of incense rather than rancid yak butter. But as in Lhasa, worshipers here drape their favorite Buddhas and bodhisattvas with shiny white ceremonial scarves.

As you make your way through the complex, look for Da Zhao's three most prized holdings: the 400-year-old Silver Buddha; in front of it, a pair of vivid golden dragons coiled around two floor-to-ceiling pillars; and exquisite Ming wall murals (in their original paint) depicting stories from Buddhist lore. Go all the way to the back of the complex to find a library full of antique sutras wrapped in orange and yellow cloth. Peek into the less-visited side chambers, too, where you're likely to find a lone lama chanting and playing Tibetan cymbals or a devotee kowtowing in the half-dark.

As you come out of the Da Zhao temple from the main entrance, turn right, go around the corner, and walk along the west wall for 60m (200 ft.). A lama temple that was once part of the Da Zhao temple complex is on your left.

2. Nai Chun Miao

There's no ticket kiosk because this temple, restored in 2004, is rarely visited by anyone outside the neighborhood. A painting of a sinner hanging upside down by his ankles, blood dripping over his face, adorns both panels of the main door. According to a young monk outside the temple, the hall is 300 years old. While the door paintings are considerably more recent, the wall and ceiling paintings inside are darkened with age and are certainly worth a look.

Walk back past Da Zhao, and continue about 90m (300 ft.) to Da Nan Jie. Cross over, turn left, and walk about 30m (100 ft.). This will take only about 10 minutes if you don't stop to take pictures and peer into shops and side alleys along the way.

3. Xilitu Zhao

The temple (Apr-Sept 8am-7:30pm, Oct-Mar 8:30am-6pm; ¥10/$1.30/65p) is visible down the first lane, Da Nan Jie, though you wouldn't know it by the plaque above the front gate that uses the name given this temple by the Kangxi emperor in 1696: Shou Si, or Temple of Extended Longevity. Like Da Zhao, this Buddhist temple was constructed during the Wanli reign (1572-1620) of the Ming dynasty and remains active, with 16 monks in residence. Razed by fire in the 19th century, it was rebuilt only to be damaged during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). Its latest humiliation is the transformation of its front buildings into souvenir shops. However, a short distance into the complex, it starts feeling more like a temple than a tourist spot.

One highlight is the Buddhist ornaments crowning the central hall. In front is the Wheel of Dharma flanked by two deer, representing the Buddha's first turning of the dharma wheel in the Deer Park. Behind the wheel are two victory banners and a jeweled trident symbolizing the Three Buddhas (past, present, and future) and the Three Jewels (the Buddha, the doctrine, and the monastic community; or body, speech, and mind). Inside the main building is a typical Tibetan prayer hall with cylindrical banners that hang from the ceiling, a white elephant (identified with the Buddha), and sutras lining the walls. On the first day of each lunar month, from 9am to noon, the monks can be heard (and viewed) chanting sutras in the main hall.

The walk from Xilitu Zhao to Wuta Si threads through another traditional neighborhood where everyone knows each other and "real Chinese life" abounds. Exiting Xilitu Zhao, turn left (eastward) down Xingsheng Street and continue walking until you reach a small playground. (En route, you'll pass old brick single-level storefronts on both sides and a toilet on the left.) Pass the playground and turn right, walking along the far side of the playground, which in summer is lined with billiards tables. Continue past a small outdoor market on the right and a narrow lane on your left. At the second narrow lane, Xiao Zhao Xiang, turn left. Ahead, on the right, a new two-story gray building with a traditional Chinese roof takes the place of the mud-and-brick buildings. You'll see the five spires of Wuta Si straight ahead, on Wuta Si Hou Jie.

4. Wuta Si

This rare Indian-style five-pagoda Buddhist temple (Apr-Sept 8am-6:30pm, Oct-Mar 8am-6pm; ¥35/$4.55/£2.30) is one of only six jingang baozuo (diamond throne pagodas) in China. Built between 1727 and 1732, it was quite likely modeled after Beijing's Wuta Si, constructed 300 years earlier. Like that one, Hohhot's Wuta Si is the only remaining structure of a much larger temple complex that fell into disrepair. Notable features are the 1,561 stone-carved images of Buddha that cover the middle and top portions of the temple; the graceful bas-relief images of bodhisattvas, bodhi trees, and sacred creatures gracing the base of the temple; and the astronomical map on the back wall purported to be the only one of its vintage written in Mongolian script. Carved in stone, it depicts the 24 seasonal periods of the lunar year, 28 planets, some 270 constellations, over 1,550 stars, and the 12 astrological divisions. Climb to the top of the temple for a view of the changing neighborhood.

To get back to Zhongshan Jie from Wuta Si, as you leave from the main gate, turn right (eastward) and walk about 100m (330 ft.) to the main street, Gongyuan Xi Lu. Across the street catch bus no. 26, which will take you to Zhongshan Road. The bus turns right and follows Zhongshan a block beyond the Neimenggu Bowuguan (Inner Mongolian Museum), where it turns left (north) onto Hulunbeier Lu.