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Published: March 31st 2010
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Datong, at the Coalface of China
Datong, located 300 km west of Beijing in Shanxi province, has a reputation for being one of the most polluted cities in China. Coal is its thing, and there’s no hiding it. Yet, perhaps undeservedly, it is also the guardian of two of northern China’s finest historic treasures. Datong The five-hour bus to Datong gives a basic impression of what is to come. Beside the highway lies the main railway towards Beijing, along which great locomotives heave an endless succession of trains, each a hundred carriages long. They are all carrying coal bound for the capital’s power stations. For Shanxi, feeding Beijing with coal really is akin to selling gummy bears to the fat kid at school.
But you wouldn’t say Datong has reaped endless rewards from the relationship. While it isn’t the poorest city, it’s GDP puts it in the top third of Chinese cities, it isn’t half ugly as sin. If Datong were a girl she’d be Worzel Gummidge’s malformed sister. But like a car crash, you can’t look away. It’s dirty and dusty and smelly and yet there is some strange appeal to how offensive the place is.
Sand sweeps through from the arid surrounding countryside, and the trees there are barren and lifeless at this time of year. Apart from the coal mines other major local employers include the power station that belches away at the edge of town and “China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Datong Gear CO.,LTD.” Hmm...
If you’re still unsure of what type of place Datong is, it’s enlightening to consider that it is twinned not with Monte Carlo or Prague but with Bury, England. Oh the glamour.
Datongian KTV And we went in search of that glamour the evening we were there, but completely failed to find it in the first establishment we found. Despite there being a stage, a microphone and videos with lyrics, the bar staff went out their way to point out to us that this was a “bar” not a Karaoke joint. It would’ve been understandable if we hadn’t been the only ones there. So we left them to their solitude and went to find a real karaoke place.
Chinese cities always manage to throw at least one spanner in the works, in Datong it was this KTV place. It was like walking through a
wardobe (though perhaps Elton John’s rather than C.S Lewis’) into another world. From the grubby streets into a shallow world of unashamed opulence. In the main reception area promo girls in long dresses strutted up and down showing off bottles of the Scotch the place was promoting, while a string quartet played beneath a large glass chandelier. If you took a seat, a plate of complimentary, finely-crafted fruit salad would be rushed over to you. As with all places in China there were at least ten members of staff busying around for each actual customer. Still we got a room and sang to our little hearts' content and it didn't dent the pocket too heavily at all.
Being in a decently sized group had several advantages, not least in that if was affordable to hire a mini-bus and a lunatic of a driver for a day. We risked death with every overtaking manoeuvre, but ultimately were victorious both in not sustaining any serious injuries, and in being able to see both of Datong’s famous sites in one day.
The Hanging Monastery The Hanging Monastery is 60km south of Datong, 60km of road largely populated in equal numbers by
heavy trucks, more crazed bus drivers and trudging donkeys. The donkeys actually rather summed up the area for me. I’m sure if you asked them what they were up to their reply would be along the lines of “Oh, you know, just plodding through my simple menial daily tasks, sticking to what I know in a life void of enjoyment or alternative...” Donkeys look sad anywhere with their big drooping heads, but these ones made Eeyore look like a Duracell bunny. I think they needed a hug.
The hanging monastery is certainly breathtaking. It’s best to ignore the dam they’re building 200m up the gorge, which has left the riverbed caked dry, and imagine it as it would’ve been with water rushing past. It really is an improbably-positioned thing. According to legend the construction was started by one man, a monk named Liao Ran. It’s impossible not to respect his ambition when 1400 years ago he had a look round before deciding half way up that cliff over there was the preferred option for his new monastery. Another interesting aspect of the monastery is that it combines Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian influences. A one-stop shop for all your Chinese
spiritual needs.
As always with these things pictures say it best.
The Yungang Grottoes On the other side of Datong lies its second main attraction - the Yungang Grottoes. Not to be out down by the monastery’s dam, this site of ancient beauty is located next a massive, sprawling coal mine. The two worlds, past and modern, tourist and industrial lie uncomfortably close. Though it’s much more uncomfortable for the delicate history of the caves.
History is currently being built at the grottoes at a fair old rate. An injection of cash from somewhere is seeing mock ancient Chinese buildings and a new lake (current empty but for a layer of scum and rubbish) appear from nowhere. I wonder if the coal mine will make it into the tourist brochure...
The caves themselves are just as improbable as the monastery. 10,000 men were involved over 60 years to turn a cliff face into a succession of 45 caves, and 51,000 Buddhist carvings. Some are massive (especially in the earlobe department), some small, many de-faced, but all beautiful.
All in all the whole trip was fascinating, I loved being engulfed in such alien world, not least
for the fact it’s such an outwardly bizarre place to go to with a friendly bunch of foreigners. Having said that I shan’t be going back in a hurry, and certainly not for a honeymoon. Besides, I’m too busy enjoying the sweet smelling freshness of the Beijing air. As they say, it’s all relative...
I found a couple of interesting related articles on the BBC. The first one is about China’s energy situation, and though it vastly oversimplifies wind energy, the basic point is made. The second is a poignant report on an incident that happened at a Shanxi coal mine while we were in Datong.
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