Datong

Caves of Yungang:

The Caves of Yungang are a collection of low caves located about 16 kilometers west of Datong. In this first Buddhist temple-cave in China there are more than 50,000 carved statues and statues of buddhas and bodhisattvas. In addition, there are images of celestial beings such as fairies and musicians, who portray the happiness of the Enlightened and more earthly figures, who play a role in the legend surrounding the life of Buddha Gautama.

The icons are based on a mix of new ideas and youthful artistic styles mostly from India, Persia and even Greece. These statuettes range from 4 centimeters to 7 meters high and most are about 1000 years old. The caves are carved in honeycomb shape in the south wall of the Wuzhoe Shan Mountains. The complex extends over a length of almost one kilometer in the valley of the river Shri li. The oldest part was created between 460 and 525 under the Northern Wei dynasty.

The work on the caves continued for about 60 years and most of the caves were provided with a wooden temple, of which, unfortunately, none has been preserved. The complex has 252 caves of which 21 are now open to the public.  

On the road in and around Datong and the caves you can still see a number of "beacon or watchtowers" guarding the road from China to Mongolia through the nearby pass.

Hanging temples:

The hanging temples, about 65 km south of Datong, together form a monastery complex and a true architectural wonder in China. This building was realized on a cliff at 75 meters above the river that flows through the Jinlong valley.

Once it was lower, but due to the rising water the complex was raised. Most historical elements date from the periods of the Tang and Ming dynasties and the Hanging Monastery dates from the period of the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534).

It is built against the holy mountain "Heng" and consists of a labyrinth of small passageways and hanging timber constructions made of bamboo and wood. Unique about this place is that three traditional religions are combined: Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. 

Other attractions:

• Shanxi's section of the Great Wall is very different from the commercial tourist pieces near Beijing or Jiayuguan. There you can see a real (stone) wall with watchtowers while here there is an earth wall that is not being kept up at all. You can view the fort Jumenbu or the sections of Desheng Bao, a 16th century pass. It can be reached by bus and is located 40 km north of Datong.

The city of Datong was founded around 200 BC. as Píngchéng during the Han Dynasty near a transit route through the Great Wall of China and achieved a great bloom in the period after it, when it became a resting place for camel caravans from China to Inner Mongolia and beyond.

Towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty (around 220) the city was looted. The city was from 398 to 494 the capital of the northern Kingdom of Wei. In the latter days of the empire, the Caves of Yungang were constructed between 460 and 494. In 1048 the name was changed to Datong ("large unit"). At the end of the Ming Dynasty (1649) the city was plundered and destroyed again, but in 1652 it was rebuilt.