The old Suiyuan military city (绥远城) area, in the northwestern part of modern Hohhot, is where the Qing dynasty built its garrison to control the region. The original grid layout of the military city is still faintly legible in the street pattern, and a few remnant walls and gate towers survive in modified form. The area is not a polished heritage site — it is a working urban neighbourhood — but it gives a different sense of Hohhot's history from the Buddhist temple quarter further south.
The Museum of Inner Mongolia History (formerly the Suiyuan Military Museum) near this area covers the region's military and political history from the Qing period through the Republic and the Japanese occupation, providing essential context for understanding how Inner Mongolia came to be part of China rather than an independent state or part of Mongolia. Combined with a walk through the adjacent old commercial streets, this area makes for a half-day neighbourhood exploration.