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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2025
The history of Inner Mongolia during the last century has been in important respects a story of Sinicization. On the one hand, massive immigration by Han Chinese has transformed the Mongol community into a minority of around 20% in their homeland. On the other hand, as is the case of other minority peoples in China and elsewhere, there has been a steady erosion of the distinctive identity of the Mongols, especially in urban regions. Many now speak and read no Mongolian and have adopted Chinese names, dress and other markers of Chinese culture. Visitors to the capital of Inner Mongolia, Hohhot, as recently as ten years ago would have found it very similar in appearance to a dozen or more Chinese cities of about the same size. It comes as a surprise therefore that, in the last decade, the cityscape of Hohhot has come to display a public Mongol identity that differentiates it sharply from other cities in China. This new public face of Mongol identity is not a reflection of resurgent Mongol nationalism. Rather it represents a taming of ethnicity by the forces of tourism and the market through processes of nationalization and globalization.
All photos were taken by Li Narangoa and Li Chimge, unless otherwise noted.
[1] I would like to thank Uradyn E. Bulag, Robert Cribb and Mark Selden for their constructive and insightful comments on an earlier version of this paper. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Symposium on Urban Development in Asia which was held at the Osaka Metropolitan University in September 2006.
[2] He constructed the Dazhao Monastery here in 1579 and initiated a translation program of Buddhist sutras. Xilituzhao Monastery, just across the street from the Dazhao Monatery, was built in the 1780s.
[3] Today, the Western Tumed banner is part of Hohhot and the Eastern Tumed banner is part of Baotou.
[4] The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was founded in 1947, well before the founding of the PRC in 1949.
[5] The name Qingcheng, a literal translation of Köke Qota into Chinese, is also used, but only in artistic or romantic contexts.
[6] The Inner Mongolian Revolutionary Party, which actually existed in the 1920s to 1940s became the main target of Red Guards.
[7] Hohhot with a population of 821,000 in 1995 nearly doubled its population to 1.5 million (including the farming population) by 2003. Zhao Xiuxing et al., Huhehaote “cheng zhong cun” xianxiang paoxi [Analysis of the “village in city” in Hohhot], Nei Menggu Shifan Daxue xuebao, vol. 35, no. 2, March 2006: 106.
[8] The first Mongol-type building after the Cultural Revolution was the Hohhot city office with a Mongol yurt-style roof. This design was taken from the Chinggis Khan mausoleum in Ordos built in 1956. Also, a mobile “story telling yurt” was put up in the heart of the town (thanks to Uradyn E. Bulag for this information).
[9] For example, see George C S Lin, ‘China's industrialization with controlled urbanization: Anti-urbanism or urban-biased?' Issues & Studies 34 (6), 1998: 98-116; L J C and G H Cui, ‘Economic transition at the local level: Diverse forms of town development in China.’ Eurasian geography and economics, 43 (2), 2002: 79-103.
[10] For example, the number of big cities (population number between 500,000 and one million) increased from 27 in 1978 to 78 in 2004, the number of middle-size cities with a population between 200,000 and 500,000 increased from 59 in 1978 to 213 in 2004; the number of small cities with a population between 100,000 and 200,000 increased from 115 in 1978 to 320 in 2004 [ZH-Wikipedia, accessed on 17 September 2007]; B Naughton, Growing out of the Plan, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
[11] J Logan (ed.), The new Chinese city: globalization and market reform, Oxford: Blackwell, 2002.
[12] George C. S. Lin, “The growth and structural change of Chinese cities: a contextual and geographic analysis”, Cities, vol. 19 (5), 2002: 229.
[13] Available here, accessed on September 17, 2007.
[14] It was a commercial and administrative town until the 1950s and later developed a textile industry and steel plant.
[15] Manzhouli and Erlian were to be developed international trade gateways. “Neimenggu zizhiqu renmin zhengfu guanyu yinfa jiakuai chengzhenhua fazhan ruogange guiding de tongzhi” [Inner Mongolia Autonomous Government' Regulation Announcement on Promoting Urbanization], Inner Mongolian Government Document, [2006] no. 3, January 11, 2006, accessed on July 11, 2007.
[16] Dianne Dredge “Development, Economy and Culture: Cultural Heritage Tourism Planning, Liangzhu, China”, Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, vol. 9, no. 4, December 2004: 405-23.
[17] Especially in preparation for the 50th anniversary of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Government in 1997 (Zhang Yanjie, “Gouzhu xiandaihua shoufu de zuyin” [Constructing the Modern Capital's Footprints], Neimenggu Xuenquan [Inner Mongol Propaganda], no. 3 1999). The first Gallop Bridge for cars was built for this occasion. The bridge was not only to help regulate inner city traffic, but was also supposed to symbolize the advance of Hohhot. The construction was a failure in terms of design and aesthetics, too steep to be used for busy vehicular traffic and too ugly to serve as a symbol for the city.
[18] “2005 Di er jie Zhongguo xibu (Neimenggu) chengshi jianshe zhanlanhui” [The second exhibition of city development in Chinese Northwest (Inner Mongolia) in 2002, accessed on July 11, 2007. The Hohhot leadership was obsessed with road construction: The city's roads have been broadened, paved and repaved. Roads were built hastily, and with each new leader, the “old ones” were ripped up and reconstructed. This is partly due to failure to consider water and sewerage plans, so that each time water or sewerage pipes required repair or augmentation, roads were torn up again. Corruption was also partly to blame. Constructing or reconstructing roads offers lucrative opportunities for all levels of management and leadership. With the frenetic rebuilding of the roads, the city looks like a constant construction site. In this respect, contemporary China has some resemblance to the “Construction State” identified by Gavan McCormack, The Emptiness of Japanese Affluence, Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1996.
[19] “Fazhan zhong de Huhehaote yuanying nin” [A Developing Hohhot Welcomes you], Neimenggu Xinwenwang, November 17, 2006, accessed on July 12, 2007.
[20] The Inner Mongolian Autonomous Government was located first in Ulanhot in the eastern part of Inner Mongolia between 1947 and 1949 and then in Kalgan (Zhangjiakou) between 1949 and 1952. In 1952, it moved to Guisui and thus Hohhot became the joint capital of Suiyuan province and the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. In 1954, Suiyuan province was incorporated to Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Hohhot remained capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
[21] Wang Junmin, “Mengguzu renkou de chengshihua jincheng” [The Urbanization of the Mongol Population], Zhongyang Minzu Daxue Xuebao [Journal of the Central University for Nationalities], vol. 29, no. 144, May 2002: 29-32.
[22] “Fazhan zhong de Huhehaote yuanying nin” [A Developing Hohhot Welcomes you], Neimenggu Xinwenwang, November 17, 2006, accessed on July 12, 2007.
[23] A Mongol administrative unit, similar to a county.
[24] Beifang Xinbao, May 4, 2006: 6.
[25] ‘Showfu “44331” gongcheng jinzhan shunli’ [The capital's ‘44331‘ projects have been progressing well], Huhehaote Ribao, July 5, 2006.
[26] 19,900 of the district's 300,000 inhabitants are Muslims. Available here, accessed on July 13, 2007.
[27] Since 2005, about 5.8 million Yuan has been invested to develop this district as a town without night and with water -totally modern situated in a green environment. To create a beautiful natural environment, about 30,000 wine grapes and 3,000 other fruit trees and flowers have been planted (‘Changyou “changle buyecheng” manbu “huapen yitiaojie”’ [Comfortably walking through the ‘long enjoyable white-night town' and watching the ‘street of flowers’, Huhehaote Ribao, June 2, 2006].
[28] Wang Junmin, “Mengguzu renkou de chengshihua jincheng” [The Urbanization of the Mongol Population], Zhongyang Minzu Daxue Xuebao [Journal of the Central University for Nationalities], vol. 29, no. 144, May 2002: 29-32.
[29] Huhehaote Ribao, May 20, 2006.
[30] Ibid.
[31] “Neimenggu sida biaozhixing jianzhu gongcheng jinru quanmian shigong jieduan” [Inner Mongolia's four representative construction projects all in progress], Beifang Xinbao, 19 July 2005; “Hushi jiadi yong xiandai jianzhu jiajie Meng-Yuan wenhua” [Hohhot is the best place for marrying modern architecture with Mongol-Yuan culture], Beifang Xinbao, September 21, 2006.
[32] “Huhehaote: gaobinwei jianshe caoyuan dushi” [Hohhot: High quality development of a steppe city], Huhehaote Ribao, July 5, 2006.
[33] By 2006 there were all together 99 such cities, Hohhot being the only one in Inner Mongolia. Wang Juan, “Lishi wenhua mingcheng Huhehaote de fazhan baohu” [The Development and Maintenance of the Historical and Cultural City of Hohhot], Neimenggu dianda xuekan [Journal of Inner Mongolia Radio & TV University], vol. 73, no. 9, 2005: 17-22.
[34] Hu Angang, “Jiakuai xibu kaifa de xinsilu” [New Ways of Fostering Westward Development], Zhongguo guoqing fenxi yanjiu baogoa [Research Report on China's Current Affairs], no. 8, 2000.
[35] Uradyn E. Bulag, “Municipalization and Ethnopolitics in Inner Mongolia”, in Ole Bruun and Li Narangoa (eds), Mongols from Country to City: Floating Boundaries, Pastoralism and City Life in the Mongol Lands, Copenhagen: NIAS Press, 2006, p. 67.
[36] “Ba Huhehaote jiancheng guojia huanbao mofan chengshi” [Making Hohhot into an Environmentally Sustainable Model City of China], Huhehaote Ribao, June 5, 2006
[37] “Shoufu chengjian yao yiren weiben tuchu tese tigao pinwei” [In building a provincial capital we must make people the focus, highlight the distinctiveness and elevate the quality], Huhehaote Ribao, June 9, 2006.
[38] The eight cultural attractions under construction include the Inner Mongolian Exhibition Center, Inner Mongolian Theater, Inner Mongolian Sports Centre, Inner Mongolian Museum, Inner Mongolian Youth Center, Zhaojun Museum, Museum of Chinese products, and the Chinese Equine Museum (“Huhehaote: gaobinwei jianshe caoyuan dushi” [Hohhot: High quality development of a steppe city], Huhehaote Ribao, July 5, 2006).
[39] “Qingcheng ‘86310‘ yuanlin huhua gongcheng jinzhan sunli” [Qingcheng's “86310” green project has been progressing well], Huhehaote Ribao, June 23, 2006.
[40] Huhehaoteshi renmin zhengfu wenjian, no 26, 2006 (March 29, 2006), p.28.
[41] “Ba Houhehoute jiancheng guojia huanbao mofan chengshi” [Making Hohhot into an Environmentally Sustainable Model City of China], Huhehaote Ribao, June 5, 2006
[42] “Shiqu zhoubian caoyuan quanjiechu” [Connecting with the steppes surrounding the city], Huhehaote Ribao, July 13, 2006.
[43] The biggest iron and steel industrial center in China is Baotou, which is also the biggest city in Inner Mongolia. It lies barely 150 km from Hohhot. The heavy industrial smoke from Baotou pollutes the air not only of that city but also of Hohhot. Moreover, until very recently, most of the heating and cooking systems in the region used coal fuel which produced a lot of smoke, and because of the Dalanhar (Daqingshan) mountain chain which half surrounds Hohhot, the smoke is not easily dispersed in winter. Hohhot and Baotou had the image of being two of the most polluted cities in China and the constant reconstruction of roads and buildings made the city appear even dustier than ever.
[44] World Tourism Organization, 1997, in Dianne Dredge “Development, Economy and Culture: Cultural Heritage Tourism Planning, Liangzhu, China”, Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, vol. 9, no. 4, December 2004: 405-23.
[45] There have been many organized tours in recent years: arriving in big coaches, following tour guides with red flags, photographing hastily and scurrying into shops to buy souvenirs.
[46] Tang Gongshao Su Shaoqiu, Xibu da kaifa: Zhanlue zhi'nan [Strategic guide to the Westward Great Opening-up], Chengdu: Xi'nana Caizheng Daxue Chubanshe, 2000, pp. 292-93.
[47] “Zongxiang zhuzhu nide zhangfang” [Always wanted to follow your lead], Beifang Ribao, August 18, 2006.
[48] “Zhaojun wenhuajie zhuli shoufu fazhan duoying” [The Zhaojun festival promotes the capital's development], Huhehaote Ribao, August 10, 2006.
[49] “Eerduosi hunli: minzu wenhua chanye de ‘Qing qima‘” [Ordos Wedding: the rise of the ethnic cultural industry], Neimenggu Ribao, August 17, 2006.
[50] “Menggu fengqingyuan zhengshi kaiyuan', July 29, 2006.
[51] China's tourism destinations are graded A, AA, AAA and AAAA according to the quality of the sites, the services offered and their economic potential. A and AA level tourist sites can be so designated by local tourist bureaux and authorities. But to be recognized as AAA or AAAA level sites, the sites have to be evaluated by provincial and central state authorities. (Jing Li, “Tourism Enterprises, the State, and the Construction of Multiple Dai Cultures in Contemporary Xishuang Banna, China”, Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, vol. 9, no. 4, December 2004:320-21.
[52] “Suzao caoyuan lishi mingcheng, zhanshi shoufu wenhua fengcai” [Mould steppe historical town, display capital's cultural style], Huhehaote Ribao, July 24, 2006. For more on Zhaojun and her changing role in history, see Uradyn E. Bulag, The Mongols at China's Edge: History and the Politics of National Unity, Lanham, Boulder, New York, Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002.
[53] In 2004, the Zhaojun festival was combined with the first International Steppe Culture Festival (shijie caoyuan wenhuajie). The main theme of the festival that year was thus steppe culture and the steppe was claimed to be the “first trademark and the greatest invisible resource of Inner Mongolia”. “Liujie Zhaojun wenhuajie jianjie” [Brief summary of six Zhaojun festivals], Huhehaote Ribao, July 24, 2006.
[54] “Shoujie niunaijie shengda kaimu” [The grand opening of the first Milk Festival], Huhehaote Ribao, September 18, 2006.
[55] Xi Shui, Shanghai jiyou [Shanghai Philately], no. 6, 2006: 11.
[56] “Chengshi wenhua jianshe de hexin lilun: wenmai chuancheng xingxiang sheji” [The core of city culture development: transmitting the cultural pulse and designing imaginatively], Huhehaote Ribao, August 19, 2006.
[57] “Huhehaote: gaobinwei jianshe caoyuan dushi” [Hohhot: High quality development of a steppe city], Huhehaote Ribao, July 5, 2006.
[58] Huhehaote Ribao, August 14, 2006.
[59] This stone horse once ran northwards. During the Cultural Revolution that orientation, like so much else, came under attack: the north was the direction of Ulaanbaatar, rather than Beijing. It was thus reversed and now faces south, towards Beijing.
[60] Beifang Xinbao, September 6, 2006:6.
[61] “Woqu caoyuan wenhua yanjiu lilun tixi chubu xingcheng” [The tentative formation of an academic theory on steppe culture], Neimenggu Ribao, August 18, 2006.
[62] “100 duowei zhuanjia xuezhe gei caoyuan wenhua xia dingyi” [Over 100 experts offer a definition of steppe culture], Beifang Xinbao, August 21, 2006.
[63] Ibid.
[64] Beifang Xinbao, August 29, 2006:1.
[65] Ibid.
[66] Ibid.
[67] Befang Xinbao, August 3, 2006.
[68] Where ethnic cultural promotion transcends the official economic frame, it can pose sensitive political issues. The recent closure of a Mongol internet chat room that aimed to attract funds from Mongols to help poor Mongol students continue their study, and the jail sentence of a Mongol intellectual, Hada, illustrate contradictory elements in ethnic policy.
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