China (Datong, Shanxi) Sept/Oct 2009 D-20, D-21, D-22 & D-23

Map of Datong, Shanxi

To go to Datong, taking a bus (CNY25) from Pingyao to Taiyuan is the best transport option. From Taiyuan, I then took a train (CNY30) to Datong. As it was getting closer to the Chinese National Anniversary Day (1 Oct) , all the hard and soft seat train tickets were sold out but I managed to buy a ticket without a seat and this means I had to stand for the first 2-3 hours until some passengers vacate their seats along the way. I departed Taiyuan at 13.26 and arrived in Datong at 19.30. 

As I was not able to pre-book a youth hostel under the Hostelworld website, it was a bit of struggle when I arrived in Datong to find a suitable hotel. Most budget hotels here catered for the local tourists and foreigners can only check into 3-4 star hotels. But lady luck was with me as while walking around the train station, a local guy approached me and recommended that I stay in Tai Jia hotel (CNY60 single room) affiliated with CITS, a well known tourist agency in China. I stayed for 4 nights in this hotel (although 2 nights were suffice) as Beijing had imposed a restriction on the movement of foreigners staying near the Tianamen Square from 30 Sept to 2 Oct due to the 60th Anniversary celebration. I was able to watch the live telecast of this grand event in my hotel room but I really enjoyed my time in Datong.

1) Yungang Grottoes, Shanxi (entrance fee CNY60) - A UNESCO heritage site. Located 16km from Luoyang. You can take a public bus (N04) from the railway station to Xinkaili and then take bus No3 to the Yungang Grottoes. The stone carvings in Yungang started between 460 and 524 during the Wei dynasty. Yungang caves have some 50,000 Buddhist statutes and some caves have drawings, images and figures of Indian divinities, Shiva & Vishnu.

2) Hanging Monastery, Shanxi (entrance fee CNY60) - Founded in Northern Wei dynasty (386-534), the hanging monastery clinging to the side of a cliff, is composed of 40 connected halls supported by wooden stilts. The monastery contains Buddhist, Daoist and Confucian chambers. I shared a taxi (CNY70 each) with 2 travelers from Bangladesh to the monastery, located 75km from Datong in the town of Hunyuan. You can opt for a CITS day tour bus (CNY220) which takes you to Yungang Grottoes & Hanging Monastery (inclusive of entrance fees)

3) Cave dweller's house, Shanxi - On the way to the Hanging Monastery, our group had an interesting visit to an elderly local cave dweller's home.

4) Jiulong Pi (Nine Dragon Wall), Datong, Shanxi - Paid CNY10 to see this Ming dynasty Nine Dragon Wall in the city center of Datong.

5) Drum Tower, Huayan Si (AD1140), Shanhua Si / Five Dragon Wall (Tang dynasty), Honqi Square, Datong - All these tourist sites are in Datong city center, easily reachable by local bus transport.

6) Local food in Datong, Shanxi - Some of the local food I savored, cheap & tasty - charcoal fired sweet potatoes (CNY4-5 per piece), roasted chestnuts (CNY20 per kati) , beef and squib satay sticks (CNY2.50-3.00 per stick), lok lok ( strings of vegetarian food dipped in boiling water-CNY0.50 per stick) , black rice porridge, meat and vegetarian dumplings (CNY5-6 per set meal)

Datong in Shanxi province has abundance of coal. One third of China's coal is extracted in Shanxi. Dusty roads and polluted airborne coal dust can infect your lungs - so be prepared for it. Datong is 5 hour by train from Beijing - ideal for a short stay and the main attractions are Yungang Grottoes & Hanging Monastery.

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