The name of the city in Mongolian means "Blue City", although it is also wrongly referred to as the "Green City. During Warring States period, the area around Hohhot was part of Zhao state. In most time of Imperial China, Hohhot area was under control of Chinese dynasties and played an important role in defense against northern nomadic people' invasion.
The Ming had been blockading the Mongols' access to Chinese iron, cotton, and crop seeds, in order to dissuade them from attacking the North China plain.
The population of Guihua grew to over , in the early s as local Mongol princes encouraged the settlement of Han Chinese merchants. There were occasional attacks on Guihua by Mongol armies, such as the total razing of the city by Ligdan Khan in Altan Khan and his successors constructed temples and fortresses in , and Hui merchants gathered north of the gate of the city's fortress, building a mosque in After the Manchus founded the Qing dynasty β , the Kangxi Emperor reigned β sent troops to control the region, [8] which was of interest to the Qing as a center of study of Tibetan Buddhism.
French missionaries established a Catholic church in Guihua in , but the Christians were forced to flee to Beijing during the antiforeign Boxer Rebellion of β A bubonic plague outbreak in and the connection of Guisui to railway links in Shanxi , Shaanxi , Hebei , and Beijing helped renew the economy of Guisui town by forming links with eastern China and western China's Xinjiang province. Guisui was chosen as the region's administrative centre in , replacing Zhangjiakou.
In , after establishment of the People's Republic of China, the city was renamed from Guisui to Hohhot , though with a different Chinese pronunciation of Huhehaote. The city has seen significant development since China's reform and opening began. The city's far east side began development around and is now home to the municipal government, most of the Autonomous Region's administrative buildings, [15] an artificial lake called Ruyi He, [16] and a large number of condominiums , mostly built by the local real estate company Gold Horse International Inc.
