HohHot
Hohot is a
famous place in the West. After all, it is the capital of Inner
Mongolia!!! This must be a real Mongolian place.
Wrong. Totally wrong.
It is a typical Chinese city. Sure, you will see Mongolian writing and Mongolian people, but in the grasslands near Hohot you will unlikely see a REAL Mongolian tent. You will see Mongolian tents (Gers), but they are built only for tourists.
My Mongolian friend who went to school for 3 years in Hohot said Mongolians do not live in traditional
Mongolian tents there. Prove it to yourself. Ask if the guides you will have in Hohot speak Mongolian and can take you to a REAL domestic Mongolian tent. They may say so, but ask if they have toilets and showers. Real ones do not.I doubt it.
The grasslands and desert are 2 hours away by car.
Sure, Hohot has a desert where you can ride a camel and ride ATV's on the desert dunes. UlanHot and Hailar do not have a desert. But the desert in Hohot is small and full of tourists.
My advice is if you really want to see the desert, go to Outer Mongolia (The country) and head South to the Gobi Desert. There it is huge and real. Sure it may cost more. You decide. A real one or a tourized one.
You can tell a real Mongolian tent from a tourist one. Know how?
Hohot is a nice city. It is big, much bigger than Hailar, but of course not as big as Beijing.
Anything you want in a big city, Hohot has. Because it is the capital of Inner Mongolia (UlanHot used to be) there is good rail and air connections, which is an advantage for tourists but a disadvantage for travellers. There is a huge difference.
But after years of traveling, I have learned that unknown places with poor transportation are the best places. This is WuLanHot (UlanHot), Hailar, ChenQi, QianQi, JahQi, AlDaErTu, GenHe, Eerguna, and so on.
Package tours to the grasslands and desert are easy to get in Hohot. Just remember you are on a pre-planned package tour. You will not eat real Mongolian food, no matter what people tell you. Guides will tell you there it is real Mongolian food, but it may not be. Real Mongolian food is centered around heated and fried cheese, butter, Mongolian Rice, and milk tea. I come from Hawaii, and can tell you that even though people tell you it is real Hawaiian food, it is not. It may look similar, but the difference is dramatic and huge.
It is my experience that such tours do not even know what real Mongolian culture and food is. It may "look" so, but it is not. Too many Mongolian tents are nothing more than tourist compounds that show you what they want to, and not the true Mongolian spirit.
Just ask for REAL Mongolian rice (millet). It is not white. It is mixed with yoghurt or cream or put into milk tea (best with fresh cream so thick that it will not run). In milk tea is the best. Real Mongolian breakfast with roasted and dried rice in milk tea is special.
However, people do want to go to Hohot as there are good, cheap air connections. We have associations with companies in HohHot if that is what you want, a tourist experience.
The most beautiful grassland is not in HohHot, but Hailar or UlanHot. In Hailar it is perfectly flat and dubbed as the most beautiful grassland in China, the Hulumbur Grassland. But it is boring after a day or two. There is nothing but flat grasslands. Huge, true, but monotonous. I think UlanHot is better. There the grassland is beautiful, broken by mountains that are more big hills, grass covered. As you head North, the flat grasslands give way to mountains.
HoHot is a big city. Be prepared. It is not what you think.
It is mostly a Chinese city, not a Mongolian city.
Just look at the signs on buildings. Chinese is 99% in size and Mongolian 1% in size.
Sure it is the capital of Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, but that is a Chinease designation, not a Mongolian one.
Sure Mongolian tents are located here, but they are mainly for tourists. Real Mongolians have left long ago.
Real Mongolian tents have no running water, toilets except outhouses, or showers.
Here, however, there are Mongolian tents with showers, running water, and toilets, all for tourists.
There are even 5 star hotels with all the international luxuries you want.
Sure there is a desert here, chock full of tourists and sky high prices.
Sure there are easy direct flights from many cities here, and that is why Mongolians have left long ago.
To get to what is left of Mongolian culture, you must go to smaller cities such as Hailar, UlanHot, Xilinhot, and so on.
Flights here only go from Beijing. Sorry but not from Shanghai.
I have no itineraries to Hohot as my goal is real Mongolian culture. I do have, however, recommendations of other travel agents.
My close friend, a relative, who went to school here, said he never saw a real Mongolian tent. He is an educated computer financial analyst. He regularly goes to the real grasslands. He is Mongolian.
So HoHot is great, but know what you are getting into. You will be close to Chinese culture and its money but far away from Mongolian culture and Nature. Sure Waikiki in Hawaii at one time had a lot of Hawaiian culture, but now it showcases a kind of American culture. Similarly, I am sure at one time HoHot had a lot of Mongolian culture. Now it is Mongolian Disneyland. Disneyland is make believe.
Wrong. Totally wrong.
It is a typical Chinese city. Sure, you will see Mongolian writing and Mongolian people, but in the grasslands near Hohot you will unlikely see a REAL Mongolian tent. You will see Mongolian tents (Gers), but they are built only for tourists.
My Mongolian friend who went to school for 3 years in Hohot said Mongolians do not live in traditional
Mongolian tents there. Prove it to yourself. Ask if the guides you will have in Hohot speak Mongolian and can take you to a REAL domestic Mongolian tent. They may say so, but ask if they have toilets and showers. Real ones do not.I doubt it.
The grasslands and desert are 2 hours away by car.
Sure, Hohot has a desert where you can ride a camel and ride ATV's on the desert dunes. UlanHot and Hailar do not have a desert. But the desert in Hohot is small and full of tourists.
My advice is if you really want to see the desert, go to Outer Mongolia (The country) and head South to the Gobi Desert. There it is huge and real. Sure it may cost more. You decide. A real one or a tourized one.
You can tell a real Mongolian tent from a tourist one. Know how?
Hohot is a nice city. It is big, much bigger than Hailar, but of course not as big as Beijing.
Anything you want in a big city, Hohot has. Because it is the capital of Inner Mongolia (UlanHot used to be) there is good rail and air connections, which is an advantage for tourists but a disadvantage for travellers. There is a huge difference.
But after years of traveling, I have learned that unknown places with poor transportation are the best places. This is WuLanHot (UlanHot), Hailar, ChenQi, QianQi, JahQi, AlDaErTu, GenHe, Eerguna, and so on.
Package tours to the grasslands and desert are easy to get in Hohot. Just remember you are on a pre-planned package tour. You will not eat real Mongolian food, no matter what people tell you. Guides will tell you there it is real Mongolian food, but it may not be. Real Mongolian food is centered around heated and fried cheese, butter, Mongolian Rice, and milk tea. I come from Hawaii, and can tell you that even though people tell you it is real Hawaiian food, it is not. It may look similar, but the difference is dramatic and huge.
It is my experience that such tours do not even know what real Mongolian culture and food is. It may "look" so, but it is not. Too many Mongolian tents are nothing more than tourist compounds that show you what they want to, and not the true Mongolian spirit.
Just ask for REAL Mongolian rice (millet). It is not white. It is mixed with yoghurt or cream or put into milk tea (best with fresh cream so thick that it will not run). In milk tea is the best. Real Mongolian breakfast with roasted and dried rice in milk tea is special.
However, people do want to go to Hohot as there are good, cheap air connections. We have associations with companies in HohHot if that is what you want, a tourist experience.
The most beautiful grassland is not in HohHot, but Hailar or UlanHot. In Hailar it is perfectly flat and dubbed as the most beautiful grassland in China, the Hulumbur Grassland. But it is boring after a day or two. There is nothing but flat grasslands. Huge, true, but monotonous. I think UlanHot is better. There the grassland is beautiful, broken by mountains that are more big hills, grass covered. As you head North, the flat grasslands give way to mountains.
HoHot is a big city. Be prepared. It is not what you think.
It is mostly a Chinese city, not a Mongolian city.
Just look at the signs on buildings. Chinese is 99% in size and Mongolian 1% in size.
Sure it is the capital of Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, but that is a Chinease designation, not a Mongolian one.
Sure Mongolian tents are located here, but they are mainly for tourists. Real Mongolians have left long ago.
Real Mongolian tents have no running water, toilets except outhouses, or showers.
Here, however, there are Mongolian tents with showers, running water, and toilets, all for tourists.
There are even 5 star hotels with all the international luxuries you want.
Sure there is a desert here, chock full of tourists and sky high prices.
Sure there are easy direct flights from many cities here, and that is why Mongolians have left long ago.
To get to what is left of Mongolian culture, you must go to smaller cities such as Hailar, UlanHot, Xilinhot, and so on.
Flights here only go from Beijing. Sorry but not from Shanghai.
I have no itineraries to Hohot as my goal is real Mongolian culture. I do have, however, recommendations of other travel agents.
My close friend, a relative, who went to school here, said he never saw a real Mongolian tent. He is an educated computer financial analyst. He regularly goes to the real grasslands. He is Mongolian.
So HoHot is great, but know what you are getting into. You will be close to Chinese culture and its money but far away from Mongolian culture and Nature. Sure Waikiki in Hawaii at one time had a lot of Hawaiian culture, but now it showcases a kind of American culture. Similarly, I am sure at one time HoHot had a lot of Mongolian culture. Now it is Mongolian Disneyland. Disneyland is make believe.
Updated: 08/22/2011