1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Kuku Khoto

KUKU KHOTO (Chinese Kwei-hwa), a city of the Chinese province of Shan-si, situated to the north of the Great Wall, in 40° 50′ N. and 111° 45′ E., about 160 m. W. of Kalgan. It lies in the valley of a small river which joins the Hwang-ho 50 m. to the south. There are two distinct walled towns in Kuku Khoto, at an interval of a mile and a half; the one is the seat of the civil governor and is surrounded by the trading town, and the other is the seat of the military governor, and stands in the open country. In the first or old town more especially there are strong traces of western Asiatic influence; the houses are not in the Chinese style, being built all round with brick or stone and having flat roofs, while a large number of the people are still Mahommedans and, there is little doubt, descended from western settlers. The town at the same time is a great seat of Buddhism—the lamaseries containing, it is said, no less than 20,000 persons devoted to a religious life. As the southern terminus of the routes across the desert of Gobi from Ulyasutai and the Tian Shan, Kuku Khoto is a great mart for the exchange of flour, millet and manufactured goods for the raw products of Mongolia. A Catholic and a Protestant mission are maintained in the town. Lieut. Watts-Jones, R.E., was murdered at Kwei-hwa during the Boxer outbreak in 1900.

Early notices of Kuku Khoto will be found in Gerbillon (1688–1698, in Du Halde (vol. ii., Eng. ed.), and in Astley’s Collection (vol. iv.)