Dazhao Temple (大召寺)

Dazhao Temple (大召寺) is the largest and most active Buddhist temple in Hohhot, and the oldest surviving one. It was founded in 1579 during the Ming dynasty, and it still functions as a working temple rather than a museum. You will see local worshippers lighting incense, not just visitors with cameras.

It sits in the old town on the western side of Xinhua Square, five minutes from a taxi drop-off, and it is a ten-minute walk from the Five Pagoda Temple.

Highlights

The Silver Buddha (银佛). The reason most people come. Seated in the main hall, roughly 1.5 meters tall, cast in the 17th century and plated in about 100 kg of pure silver. The hall is kept dim to protect it, which means your phone camera will struggle. Shoot wide, not tight.

The Three-Statue Hall. Introduced by Altan Khan, a Mongol ruler who was a Tibetan Buddhist, the temple has an unusual layout for China: Buddhas and bodhisattvas sit in the Mongolian style, facing south rather than east.

The Tsenk Fog (千佛阁). A small pagoda hall, cheap and rarely crowded, worth five minutes on the way out.

The Yurt Camp. Mongolian-style ger tents sit inside the complex, selling milk tea, dried beef and horse-rhyme souvenirs. Aggressively commercial, but the tea is decent.

Practical

¥35 ($4.90). Cash or Alipay at the gate. No booking needed - walk up and pay.

Aim for 8:30-9:00 AM. From around 10:00 the whole thing becomes a shuffling queue of tour groups, and the side courtyettes that are pleasant when empty are shoulder-to-shoulder. Late afternoon light through the incense smoke in the courtyards is the other good window.

Combined with the Five Pagoda Temple (¥20, $2.80) 1 km away, you can do both in a morning, plus a walk down Xinhua Street to the Qingzhen Mosque.