About Datong
What to see and do in Datong
Weather in Datong
Airport in Datong
Visa
Datong is a city in the northern Shanxi Province in China, and is located a few hundred kilometres west by rail from Beijing with an elevation of 1090 meters. It has a population of approximately 3.11 million.
Datong is the second largest city in Shanxi, and is known by the locals as the coal capital (Meidu) for a good reason. Datong coal is everywhere: tons of it powering the whole of Shanxi and other cities beyond, piles of it chugging along the roads around town in Soviet style off-blue trucks, smears of it discovered on a face-wiped handkerchief. The city is one of China's most polluted and not only asthma sufferers should think twice before spending any amount of time in the city. Industrial and economic development has bounded in great leaps since the communists came to power in 1950, and huge swathes of the city have been altered into concrete. Despite all this travellers still have a few huge incentives to visit Datong, incentives that are all related to the town's ancient past.
Lying in the northern area of Shanxi Province, Datong was originally, over 2,200 years ago, founded as a military stronghold, holding out the hordes that frequently pushed south from Mongolia. If you are interested there still remain a number of dilapidated watchtowers on the Great Wall about 40km north of the city at the inter-provincial border. The city was often raided, the Mongols were often repelled, and the city took on a rough border town look.
It was not until 1,600 years ago that the city's luck turned. A group of nomadic Turkish people, the Toba, setting up their Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534 AD), decided to establish their capital at Datong. The Toba were to become fanatic Buddhists, as is shown from the carvings in the Yungang Grottoes, and by their later work in the Longmen Caves when the capital was moved to Luoyang in 494 AD. The Yungang Grottoes, although much removed from their former glory, are still one of the most impressive cave sights in China.
The city fell from imperial favour for a few centuries, but regained importance in 916 AD when the city was again made capital, this time of the Buddhist Liao Dynasty (916-1125 AD), and this continued on into the ensuing Jin Dynasty (1115-1234 AD). Buddhist temples from this era are what remain of the Liao & Jin Buddhist belief, who helped establish or improve the Huayan Monastery, the Shanhua Temple and Hengshan Mountain's Hanging Monastery. These sights still remain today.
The town was founded as P'ngch'ng in 200 BC during the Han Dynasty. Located near the Great Wall Pass to Inner Mongolia it blossomed during the following period and became a stop-off point for Camel Caravans moving from China into Mongolia and beyond. It was sacked at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Pingcheng became the capital of Northern Wei from 398 AD until 494 AD. The famous Yungang Grottoes (Yungang Sh'ku) were constructed during the later part of this period (460 ' 494 AD).
The city was renamed Datong in 1048 AD and sacked again at the end of the Ming Dynasty (1649 AD), but promptly rebuilt in 1652 AD.
Drum Tower -Like many cities in China, Datong has its own Drum Tower. This is in the centre of town, but not open to the public.
The Hanging Monastery
The grand natural sceneries of Datong can be found in Mt. Hengshan. It is located in the
Hunyuan County about 60 kilometers (37.3 miles) to the south east of the urban area of Datong.
As one of the Five Sacred Mountains in China, Mt. Hengshan is a great attraction to people all over
China for its charming natural beauty as well as its intriguing manmade miracles. The peculiar
wood-structured Hanging Monastery on the cliff at the foot of Mt. Hengshan gives a breath-taking
view of Chinese architecture. Yanmenguan Pass within the Hengshan Mountain range is one of
the three important passes through the inner line of the Great Wall in Shanxi section.
Because of the numerous pagodas in Datong it has been known as the 'City of Pagodas'. Though there are only six left today, each of them is elaborate, especially the Wooden Pagoda in Ying County. This pagoda is over 900 years old and is attractive for its exquisite design and delicate appearance.
Nine Dragon Screen - A 600-year-old screen made of glazed tiles and depicting nine dragons. The Datong Nine Dragon Screen, built over 600 years ago, is presently the oldest and largest glazed screen in China today. It is three times larger than that in Beihai Park , Beijing City.
The screen, built for the thirteenth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), has been well preserved and remains intact to this day. It is made up of 426 specially-fired glazed bricks, with a height of 8 meters (about 26 feet), 2.02 meters (6.6 feet) thick and 45.5 meters (149 feet) long. The Screen can be divided into three parts, the pedestal, body and roof.
The pedestal is rectangular shaped with a height of 2.09 meters (6.9 feet). Its narrow middle section is composed of 75 glazed tiles with images of oxen, dogs, deer rabbits and other animals.
The Huayan Monastery - which has the largest wooden shrine hall in China The Huayan Monastery in Daxi Street of Datong City established in Liao is typical. The statues, frescos and some of the buildings in Huayan Temple betray the typical artistic and architecture style of the Liao Dynasty. Inside the south gate of Datong City, the Shanhua Temple is a majestic well-preserved building group of Liao and Jin which is famous for the well-spaced layout as well as the vivid statues of Buddhas and Buddhism frescos.Further afield is the Hanging Temple built into a cliff face near Mount Heng. Most of the historical sites in this region date to the Tang and Ming dynasties, but the Hanging Temple dates to the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534).
Yungang Grottoes -By far the greatest attraction of the area are the 1,500-year-old Yungang Grottoes. These mountain-side caves and recesses number more than 50 in all and are filled with 51,000 Buddhist statues - the largest being a 56-foot Seated Buddha while the smallest is only a few centimeters tall. In addition to the carvings of the Buddha, there are also scenes depicting Buddhist teachings and famous monks. The Yungang Grottoes are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Take bus #3-1 or #3-2. The Yungang Grottoes, or Cloud Ridge Caves are a collection of shallow caves located 16 km west of Datong. There are over 50,000 carved images and statues of Buddhas and Boddhisatvas within these grootes, ranging from 4 centimeters to 7 meters tall. Most of these icons are around 1000 years old.
Red Flag Square - Evenings around the Red Flag Square are quite entertaining and full of locals.
The railway locomotive works (see below) began to attract increasing numbers of railway enthusiasts from the 1970s. When construction of steam locomotives was phased out, the authorities did not want to lose this valuable tourism market, and pondered the possibility of developing a steam railway operating centre as an attraction. A number of study visits were undertaken to the East Lancashire Railway at Bury, and a twinning arrangement was concluded with that town.
Located on the vast expanses of the Loess Plateau (Huangtu gaoyuan), Datong has a temperate climate. The average annual temperature is only about 6.8 C, with sharp temperature swings between day and night. As a result, it is highly advisable that you take one thick overcoat to keep out the cold, even in summer.
Temperatures here vary massively throughout the year, with a high of 38 C. in the summer months of July and August, and a low of around -30 C in January and February. Generally speaking, the best time to visit is summer, when the heat is far more bearable compared with the sweltering sweaty climates that often plague the areas further south.
The best time to Datong is summer and fall (from June to November).
January -16 C to -4 C
February -12 C to 1 C
March -6 C to 7 C
April 2 C to 16 C
May 9 C to 23 C
June 14 C to 27 C
July 17 C to 28 C
August 15 C to 26 C
September 9 C to 22 C
October 2 C to 15 C
November -7 C to 6 C
December -14 C to -2 C
Datong Airport is an airport in Datong, Shanxi, China (IATA: DAT, ICAO: ZBDT).
Location: Datong Airport is situated 17 kilometers (10.6 miles) to the east of the urban area and covers an area of 2159 mu (355.7 acres).
Brief Introduction: Opened in December, 2005, Datong Airport is totally new and offers air services to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Flights heading for Beijing are available on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; for Shanghai on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and for Guangzhou on Monday and Friday only.
Service
Airport airline inquiries phone: 0352-2043388 or 0352-2044039
Ticket selling office: No.14, Yingbin Donglu.
Opening hours: 08:00-18:30
Transportation
Transport between Datong Airport and the urban area is convenient by the shuttle bus or taxi since
the distance is not very far. The shuttle bus heading for the airport starts in front of the Continental Hotel
at No.88 Binxi Street of Yingbin Road (West) in Datong City. Every bus leaves 2 hours ahead of the flight
time and takes 25~30 minutes without stop.The whole journey will take you about 30 minutes.
In addition to the Datong Airport, Taiyuan Wusu Airport is the nearest airport available to Datong acting as a transfer station for the trip to Datong. There is no bus directly heading for Datong at the Wusu Airport but you have to take the Bus No. 201 in front of Wusu Airport and alight at the Taiyuan Railway Station or the Taiyuan Long-distance Bus Station at No.72 Yingze Dajie in Taiyuan City. In the square at the Taiyuan Railway Station or in Taiyuan Long-distance Bus Station, there are buses heading for Datong available.
Airlines and other destinations of Datong
Air China (Beijing)
China Eastern Airlines (Shanghai-Hongqiao)
Hainan Airlines (Guangzhou)
To be able to travel to Datong you need to have a valid China Visa, issue
from your local government at the China Embassy, Chinese visa fall into four types:
diplomatic visa, courtesy visa, service visa and ordinary visa. Ordinary visa
is further divided into the following 8 categories each marked with a letter:
(1) Tourist and family visit visa (L-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who comes to China
for tourist purpose, family visit or other personal affairs.
(2) Business Visa (F-visa ) is issued to a foreign citizen who is invited to China for visit, research, lecture, business, exchanges in the fields of science, technology, education, culture and sports, or attending various kinds of trade fairs or exhibitions, or short-term study, intern practice for a period of no more than 6 months.
(3) Student Visa (X-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who comes to China for the purpose of study or advanced study for a period of six or more months.
(4) Work Visa (Z-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who comes to China to work and his or her accompanying family members, or to give commercial performances in China.
(5) Transit Visa (G-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who is to transit through China on his or her way to a third country (or region).
(6) Crew Visa(C-visa)is issued to crew member performing his/her duties on board an international train, or on an international airliner, to a sailor on board an international ocean-liner or freighter, and also to their accompanying family members..
(7) Journalist Visa (J-visa)is issued to foreign journalists. J-visa has two categories: J-1 visa and J-2 visa. J-1 visa is issued to resident foreign journalists in China and their accompanying spouses and under-age children, J-2 visa to foreign journalists who visit China for temporary news coverage.
(8) Permanent Residence Visa(D-visa)is issued to a foreign citizen who has been approved by China's public security authority to reside in China permanently.
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free download of basic survival Chinese conversation in China.