Surrounded by endless, undulating Mongolian grasslands it's no wonder that many confuse the meaning of "Hohhot," which actually means "Blue City," with the common misnomer of "Green City." Popular during the summer months for its cooler climate and wide-open spaces, Hohhot is also known for its significance in Buddhist history: Hohhot (Huhehaote in Mandarin) is where Altan Khan, the great Mongol leader, rekindled a powerful relationship between Mongols and Tibetan Buddhists when he invited the third Grand Lama, Sonam Gyatso, to help him spread Buddhism throughout his empire, subsequently popularizing the term "Dalai" as the Grand Lama's new honorific. The capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region since 1952, Hohhot is encircled by the Daqing Mountains (Great Green Mountains) to the north and the Hetao Plateau in the south.&n... more >>

A city of massive industrial sprawl three hours west of Hohhot, Baotou (Bāotóu, 包头 ) is Inner Mongolia's largest, and arguably least attractive, city. This is due to the fact that Baotou is China's most prolific producer of iron, steel and rare earth elements, facts that paint not just the city's reputation, but its ground, rivers and skies. You'll probably notice this if you come to Baotou on a night train from Yinchuan, check out the preternaturally glowing banks of rust-colored smog dragging across the tortured sky. Below, tangled masses of pipes and smokestacks are lit by a legion of hellish fires spitting toxic sparks from the mouths of countless blast furnaces. In the dark, and on such an enormous scale, the industrial nightmare-scape is captivating, and in a way, beautiful. However, the industrial impact of Baotou's primary economic activity is something the city... more >>