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蒙 plates: Inner Mongolia, and what the letters mean

Facts checked

A plate beginning 蒙 was registered in Inner Mongolia, a autonomous region. The character is Měng, said roughly “mung”. 蒙 is the first character of 蒙古 Ménggǔ, the Chinese transliteration of 'Mongol'. 内蒙古 Nèi Ménggǔ means 'Inner Mongolia', the part of the Mongol lands inside the Great Wall frontier.

The letter after it is the office that issued the plate. 蒙A belongs to Hohhot, and 12 further letters are recorded below.

The colour of the plate is a separate fact from the characters: it says what kind of vehicle carries it, and the characters say nothing about it. The colour guide sets out what each of the 7 colours licenses.

Key facts

Plate character Měng “mung”
PlaceInner Mongolia
Kindautonomous region
CapitalHohhot
City letters13
Why this character蒙 is the first character of 蒙古 Ménggǔ, the Chinese transliteration of 'Mongol'. 内蒙古 Nèi Ménggǔ means 'Inner Mongolia', the part of the Mongol lands inside the Great Wall frontier.

The city letters

Issuing offices in Inner Mongolia.
Prefix Letter City Note
A A Hohhot 蒙A·Y0000–Y9999 is the taxi block and DY0000–DY9999 the new-energy taxi block.
B B Baotou
C C Wuhai
D D Chifeng 蒙D·Y0000–Y9999 is the taxi block.
E E Hulunbuir Several blocks carry a Y for taxis.
F F Hinggan League
G G Tongliao
H H Xilingol League
J J Ulanqab
K K Ordos
L L Bayannur
M M Alxa League
O O Inner Mongolia public security Police series; abolished in several cities and leagues from 2009 onwards.

Inner Mongolia plates: questions people ask

What does 蒙 mean on a Chinese licence plate?
蒙 (Měng, "mung") is the abbreviation for Inner Mongolia. 蒙 is the first character of 蒙古 Ménggǔ, the Chinese transliteration of 'Mongol'. 内蒙古 Nèi Ménggǔ means 'Inner Mongolia', the part of the Mongol lands inside the Great Wall frontier.
Which city is 蒙A?
Hohhot. The letter A goes to the seat of government in almost every province, and the remaining letters were assigned to the other issuing offices.
How many plate letters does Inner Mongolia use?
13 are recorded here, A to O. A retired or reassigned letter keeps its note in the table.

Related

Sources for Inner Mongolia

  1. Wikipedia (Chinese), 中华人民共和国民用机动车号牌 (Civil motor-vehicle registration plates of the People's Republic of China). Read . Carries the complete province-by-province table of issuing-office letters, with the retired and renumbered series footnoted to Chinese news and public-security sources. Used as a finding aid; wording here is our own.
  2. Wikipedia, Vehicle registration plates of China. Read . English list of prefixes; the article flags its own list as incomplete, so it is used here to cross-check the Chinese table rather than as the primary record.