Ulaanqab literally translates as red mountain pass in Mongolian. It's located in the middle part of Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Covering a total area of 54,500 square kilometers, Ulaanqab has a permanent population of 2.12 million, and governs 11 prefectures.

In the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220), Ulaanqab was the territory of Xiongnu, an alliance of nomadic tribes who are also known as the Hun[Just checking to make sure this is correct, and should not be “Han”] In the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Ulaanqab belonged to different commanderies such as the Dingxiang Commandery, Mayi Commandery and Yanmen Commandery. By the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Ulaanqab was the residence of the Chahar and Tumd tribes. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), six tribes made an alliance there, which is how the Ulaanqab League got its name. The city was under Suiyuan Province's jurisdiction in the Republic of China era (1912 - 1949).  

As Ulaanqab has abundant energy and rich resources, its three major power generation industries, thermal power, wind power and photovoltaic power, have develop well. The city's total installed capacity of power plants now tops 11 million Kilowatts, making Ulaanqab an important electrical energy base in Inner Mongolia. There are more than 80 types of discovered mineral reserves in Ulaanqab, including coal, petroleum, molybdenum, graphite, lead, silver, copper and iron. In recognition of its large production and high quality of agricultural and livestock products, Ulaanqab has been named China’s Capital of Potatoes, one of China's Top Ten Cities in Food Safety and a China's Top Ten City in Milk Production. 

With a good location and convenient transportation, Ulaanqab is the nearest grassland tourist resort to Beijing, and has been named China’s best grassland summer resort by the Chinese Meteorological Society. Located at the junction of Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and Hebei Province, Ulaanqab is a vital hub linking the three major economic zones of Northeast China, North China and Northwest China and is an significant international corridor leading to Mongolia, Russia and countries in Eastern Europe. There are eight logistics parks in Ulaanqab which include the Ulaanqab integrative logistics base and Jining modern logistics park.   

In 2024, Ulaanqab's GDP reached 121.42 billion yuan, an increase of 5.4 percent over the previous year. The added value of the primary industry was 19.5 billion yuan, up 5.0 percent; the secondary industry reached 40.23 billion yuan, up 4.9 percent; and the tertiary industry hit 61.69 billion yuan, up 5.7 percent.

The industrial structure stood at 16.1:33.1:50.8, and the contributions to GDP growth from the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries were 14.6 percent, 30.0 percent, and 55.4 percent, respectively. Per capita GDP rose to 76,364 yuan, a 7.0 percent increase year-on-year.