Getting from Hohhot Baita International Airport to the city

One yuan, five routes

• Hohhot's airport publishes its own list of the bus routes that call there: 97, 12, 13, 125 and 126.
• Each of them charges a flat 1 yuan. There is no airport premium of any kind.
• The waiting point is about 200 m from the terminal building. Walk out and look for the stop rather than expecting a bay at the kerb.

Which route to take

• Route 97 is the one for the city. It runs between the airport and Xinhua Plaza, about 15 to 16 km, calling at the municipal government, the Bank of Communications, the museum, Wanda Plaza, the Inner Mongolia Exhibition Hall and Hailiang Plaza before finishing at Xinhua Plaza. Twenty seven or twenty eight stops depending on the working.
• Route 12 runs past the East Railway Station, ending at the third bus company depot, and is the one to take for trains.
• Routes 13, 125 and 126 are short local workings around Bayan and Baita villages. They are useful if that is where you are staying and useless otherwise.

The hours

• The first bus is at 06:10 on every route.
• The last is collected at 20:00, except route 97, which the airport lists as running to 21:00 in summer and 20:00 in winter.
• After that it is a taxi. These are ordinary city buses, not an airport service that waits for the last flight.

Distances, and the alternative

• The airport is 10 km east of downtown.
• It is 8 km from the East Railway Station and 16.7 km from the West Railway Station, so which station your train leaves from changes the journey noticeably.
• An airport coach also runs, at a reported 15 yuan. Given that the city bus is 1 yuan and covers the same ground, the coach is for people with luggage and a schedule.