Description : A provincial capital with an interesting museum, lively streets life and a few nice temples. 

Comments : Not really worth coming in itself, Hohhot is however to be treated with respect as a good stopover place.

What to do : Visit the museum and admire the large mammoth skeleton and the few dinosaur exhibits / Walk down the city via the park toward the temples and the lively small streets / Send email at the best rate in China so far

What you may not like : Arriving on time to find the museum already closed / The busy streets which make riding a bicycle a perilous experience

How long ? Half a day is enough but it is going to be an half a day well spent

Where to stay ?  In the vicinity of the train Station

Hotels  << Get precise info, book online and save money !

• You Zheng Fan Dian (696 6872), on the left when you exit the station / Dorm without bath : 15(5), 20(4), 30(3) / Dorm with shower : 40(3), 60(2) / OK toilets / Common shower / HW 20 to 22 // Go there for the cheapest bed in town, the good big rooms, the convenient location,...

•  Railway Hotel (6933 377), on Xilin Guole Beilu, the street opposite of the Train Station / Dbl without bath 52 / Sgl, Dbl or Trpl with shower 180, 112 or 150 / OK toilets / OK shower / HW 24 hrs // Go there for the cheapest big dbl without bath in town, the facilities (gym, billiard,...), the nice decoration, the view from some of the rooms,... / What you may not like : the small dbl with tiny bathroom, not belonging to the railway staff as those enjoy  cheaper rates.

• Tongda Hotel (696 8731), on Chezhan Dongjie (East) / Dorm 50(2) with shower / Sgl with shower 88 or 128 / HW 7:30 to 8:30 & 21 to 23 // Go there for the cheapest dbl with shower in town / What you may not like : the not so fresh rooms with not so clean bathrooms

•  Guohua Hotel (628 5588), on Chezhan Xijie (West) / Nice Dbl with bath 120 / HW 19 to 9am // Go there for the nice rooms. / What you may not like : the lack of options

• Bei Yuan Hotel (6966 211), opposite Wangfu Hotel, on Chezhan Xijie (West) / Without bath : Sgl 30, Dbl 60 / Dbl with shower or bath 100 or 120 / OK toilets / Common shower / HW 24 hours // Go there for the cheapest Sgl in town. / What you may not like : the very basic furniture (incl. the beds) in the not so nice rooms without bath

Railway Hotel	tielu
Tongda Hotel	tongda fandian
Guohua Hotel	guohua dajiudian
wangfu Hotel	wangfu fandian

Where to eat ?  Around the train station. In the evening, plenty of small restaurants are setting up tables outside, in particular at the corner with Xin Ma Lu. There, you can find excellent mutton/potatoes hotpots for Y5, as well as other delicacies.

What to see/visit ?

• Inner Mongolia Museum : (4), Y8, 9 to 17 (summer) or 10 to 16 (winter), closed on Tuesday

• Five Pagoda temple : (3), Y5, Exp, 8 to 18:30 / You do not really need to go inside. A quick look should do.

• Xiletuzhao Temple : (3), Y3, 8 to 18:30 / An interesting mixture of Chinese and Tibetan culture.

• Dazhao Temple : (4), Y5, 8 to 18:30 / A big Tibetan Temple that is definitively worth the entrance fee, especially if you sneak in for free from the West door, after checking the small Tibetan Temple (8 to 18:30, free)

• Great Mosque (3), Y5, Exp / Not really worth the price but you might see it for free if you enter via the left alley as the ticket office in in the right alley...

From the Museum, you can do a nice walk to all the sights in about 3-4 hours : go through the park toward the Five Pagoda Temple (alternatively, take bus No1 from the Train Station) and from there walk west toward the other two temples. You can easily spend a few hours in the area wandering around the old alleys full of life and energy. If you continue east, you will arrive at the dirty canal. Follow it North up to the Mosque and the Muslim area...

The grasslands ?

Yes, some people come to Inner Mongolia for a sight at the Grassland.

It is possible to see them at different locations but you will have to go through an agency and this will not be particularly cheap, even after negotiation. China Air Travel Service (6964 531-8211) on the 2nd floor (room 211) of Wangfu Hotel quoted as follows for 1 person (the more, the cheaper) : 1 or 2 days to Xilamuren : 400 or 450 / 2 days to Gegentala or Huitengxile : 550. This is cheaper than CITS but, still, shop around and clarify what the prices include.

You can see nice grassland free of charge on the way from Xiahe in Gansu Province to Songpan in Sichuan Province and also in North Yunnan near Zhongdian...

Bus Schedules :

From South Bus Station (Bus No1 from Train Station)

From North Bus Station (next to Train Station)

Trains

The trip to Beijing : Train  / Night / Y129 / 12h30

Only one train had sleepers available but this was the train I wanted anyway ! Except for the lack of head room on the top sleeper and the noisy speakers (that you can turn off), it was a good night sleep with some good sights on the great Wall at Badaling in the morning, as well as the dirty suburbs of the capital.

See also trip from Dongsheng to Hohhot...