Hohhot Culture and history
		Hohhot, the capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is a historical and culture city. Paleolithic relic excavated in Dayao village close to Hohhot indicates that there were people in this region about 550,000 years ago. The Paleolithic relic (a site of stone ware making) is unique in the world. In 300BC, the state of Zhao occupied the northern part of Hohhot. In 306BC, Lingwang, the king of the Zhao, named this area Yunzhong and constructed a section of wall (a section of the Great Wall) along the Yin Mountain to protect it. Yunzhong served as an administrative center during the Qin (221BC-207BC) and Han (206BC-220AD) dynasties. In early 16th century, a Mongol troop, under the leadership of Helatan Khan, marched into this area. Helatan Khan and his wife, Sanniangzi, started to establish a town here in 1581 and named it Hohhot that means 'blue city' in Mongolian. The town was also called 'Sanniangzi'. Later on the Ming government renamed it Guihua. In 1735 (Qing Dynasty), Manchus built a town about 2.5 kilometers northeast of the city of Guihua and named it Suiyuan, which is the modern city of Hohhot. After the Qing Dynasty, the city was called Guisui or Houhe till November 1949 when it was liberated. The city was called Hohhot again. The major historic relics here include the Dazhao Temple, the Huayan Scripture Pagoda, Wang Zhaojun Tomb, the Jingangsheli Pagoda, and Wusuotuzhao Temple. Costumes of Mongolians are very distinctive. Men and women always wear beautiful robes with waistbands, made of various fabrics. Yurt (Meng Gu Bao) are herdsmen's houses. Matou violin is a Mongolian's traditional musical instrument Fancy riding, wrestling, camel race, and archery are popular traditional sports of Mongolians. Nadumu Fair is Mongolian's traditional fair. Well-known traditional products are rugs. Food specialties include roasted mutton and milk products.