Datong Things to Do

In the city center I also visited the Shanhua temple, which I enjoyed very much. It is also worth a short visit.
There are several halls standing in a line with hige Bhudda statues. In the left corner of this park you can see a part of a Nine Dragon Screen.
Entrance fee was 5 Kuai.
Location: It is hidden in a small alley on the right side of the main street (if you come from the railwaystation) Da Beijie/Nanguan Nanjie.

When you get to Datong you have to see the Hanging Monastery(Xuankong Si) . I love it, but you need one day for a visit because it is about 70 km outside of Datong. But it`s awesome! Like a little bird nest hanging on the cliffs. So peaceful!
On the way back it started to snow heavily and there are difficult climbs and winding roads through the mountains - the minibus was overloaded with 22 , like always in China, instead of 10 people for which the bus was originally built. Some cars were already stuck or were in the ditches - but for Gods sake, our driver had some snow chains which saved the day!

The highlight are the Yungang Caves, a world heritage with more than 50.000 buddha statues (formerly more than 100.000!!!) from a few centimeters to more than 17 meters of height. It is very close to the city, about 20 minutes by bus. The place was built in the days when China adopted the Buddhism from India. You can see the change from sharp cut faces with long noses and sari clothes of the oldest statues to round faces with short noses, Chinese clothes and typical eyes of the newest statues in these caves.

Ok...this is my second most favourite place in China (after the wall). Perhaps it has something to do with the heights. Of all the places in China, the people I was travelling with chose not to do the Wall and the Hanging Monastery due to their fear of heights.

Here's a big tip. Get over your fear of heights before coming to China, because these were the two BEST things to see!!

The Monastery is awesome, set into a cliff, hundreds of metres in the air. The question I kept asking was why? Why would they build a monastery in such a precarious position, when there is perfectly good flat land all around? I think I'll google and do some research on that one.

It has been there for about a thousand years but not damaged. The secret is:

unique location: in the shade of the valley thus maximum sunlight in summer is 2 hours. Also the mountain on top of it shileds it from wind and rain. What a smart design!

It is quite easy. After entering the main gate, turn right and walk to the end (East). Then start your tour from Cave 1.

The Yungang Cave was built in 60 years, when Bei Wei Dynasty having their capital at Datong.

From the hanging monastery you have a wonderful view down at the river and the surrounding mountains.
You can also visit the Heng Shan, the holy mountain. You can reach this mountain by a mountaineous path and a tunnel of the water reservoir. This is one of the Chinese holy mountains, with some temples and monasteries on your way to the top. The mountain is accessible for visitors from 1987. Because of the heavy rain and lack of time we didn't go up.

The colours of the hanging monastery are amazing. The best time for a visit is in the morning, when the sun is shining at the monastery. We did, but it was raining that day and very cloudy.
It is better not to have fear of heights, because it's very narrow and steep and there are no high fences or no fences at all at some places. When we visited it was also very slippery because of the heavy rainfall.