http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Shanxi , Datong en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:03:23 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:03:23 UTC Hello againBeen to visit our school a couple of times now as well as another primary school in the coal mining district. I recieved a fantastic welcome with a red carpet a band and the whole school outside in subzero temperatures chanting welcome and waving pompoms. The staff and the children were really excited to here about Hollins Grundy and I saw some great things going on here. See you o http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-349258.html Hello again everyone. This morning I got up at 4.30 and we flew from Beijing to Datong which was an hour's flight. Datong is in Shanxi Province and is a big city famous for it's coal mines. We have been to Yungang Grottoes this morning which have some beautiful statues of Buddha and we will shortly be meeting the people from Datong schools. By the way the temperature when we arrived this morning http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-348375.html I travel to Datong passing through the huge industrial areas of Northern CHina. This is where much of the country's coal comes from and hence where many of the massive powerstations are. They're a blight on the landscape but in such a growing powerhungry country they've got to put them somewhere.Just West of Datong are the Yungang caves a huge site of over 51000 Buddhist carvings in a sand http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-297361.html One hundred evil ones should be forgotten.The Chinese have not had a great 2008 year so far. The Chinese New Year kicked things off in February with freezing sub zero blizzards that killed off a lot of the countries live stock and farming produce this devastated the countries food supplies. In March the violent rioting escalated with the monks and lay people in Tibet then Chinese security forces http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-284065.html Day two was reserved for the famous hanging monastry located some 65 km's south east of Datong and build into the Heng Shan sacred mountain. It's a pretty impressive sight although very touristy.The weather on this day was absolutely freezing so my enjoyment of the monastry was tampered a bit by not being able to feel my hands and face. Taking photo's becomes slightly difficult as well but l http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-244794.html Lucky for me the train from Hohhot to Datong only took 4 hours so that's not too bad. Upon arrival in Datong I sort of immediately knew that I wasn't going to like the city. The Lonely Planet says the following about DatongDatong isn't going to win any beauty pageants but who needs good looks when you've got artAnd that's very right the city is just a big industrial coal mine city and the http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-244782.html Smog and Caves http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-237212.html Datong has a population of about 3 million people and is a big coal producing region. It served as the capital around 400 AD and did so for about 70 years. You'd think that a city this steeped in history would have loads to see and do unfortunately this did not prove to be the case.We took the overnight train from Beijing and arrived in at about 7.00 am. We knew what it was we wanted to see and i http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-236392.html Our plan was to leave Beijing on a train to Datong see the Yungang caves and the hanging monastery then go to Wu Tai Shan Pingyao and finally catch a train to Xi'an. We had a hotel reserved for 1 night in Datong and the next hotel was waiting for us in Xi'an. Between that we had no idea how to navigate. We kind of looked through the books and it kind of looked all logical and close. Of course http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-214632.html I took the overnight train from Beijing to Datong to see the Hanging Monastery and Yungang Caves there. Datong is really just one big industrial town. It is the source of a big portion of China's coal and the city certain smells like it. The odor of coal permeates the air here. When I blew my nose and took a look at what came out there were black specks of coal dust. I wonder what the life expect http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-202074.html Dwa ostatnie dni sp281dzili347my w Datongu. Zwiedzili347my Wisz261cy Klasztor i Jaskini281 Yungang fotki wklej281 w Xi'an przy okazji. W Datongu spotkali347my bardzo wielu Europejczykw. W dormitorium mieszkali347my z Holendrem ktry po 6 miesi261cach studiw w Pekinie wyruszy322 przez miesi261c pozwiedza263 Chiny. A380 do Chengdu mamy podobne plany wi2 http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-190916.html www.diariodeunviaje.com todo en nuestra pagina webLa ultima parada del transmongoliano es Beijing a las 1400h despues de un dia y medio desde que salimos de Ulan Bator pero nosotros nos bajamos a las 800h en DATONG Tren Ulan BatorBeijing 54 eurospers. Queremos visitar las Cuevas Yungang y el Templo Colgante. En la misma estacion de tren de Datong hay una oficina CITS China Internationa http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-185421.html So onward to Datong from Beijing a six hour train ride on a hard seat. When they say the class is hard seat they mean it three people on a seat designed for two. But for 2 pounds it's not so bad. There are a few different classes to choose from Hard seat soft seat hard sleeper 6 bunks 3 each side about 90 people per train carriage in compartments open to the aisle which is the most popul http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-168299.html After Xian and the warriors we took a train into coal country in the city of Datong. Not a pretty place. It was actually one of the ugliest cities I've ever seen though worth a short trip. Upon arriving we met a few other travelers and checked into the same hotel. We then including our new found Swiss friends fondly referred to as the Swiss Franks went to make our way to the Hanging Monestary http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-168081.html Vervoer In Baotou namen we de bus naar Datong oa om 7h40 en om 9h20 konden we vertrekken in een kleine bus die er 6 uur over deed. Hij nam de snelweg en reed rechtstreeks naar het busstation van Jingning na deze stop werd er regelmatig volk op en afgelaten. We betaalden 58Y voor ongeveer 420km. We werden afgezet bij het langeafstandsbusstation in Datong vlakbij het treinstation. In Beijing n http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-140543.html After our 2 week stay in Beijing we felt ready to move on. The plan was for us to head to Xi'An stopping at Datong city and Wutai Shan for a few days on the way. Wutai shan is one of the 4 buddhist mountains in China and it seemed to be a nice opportunity to get out into the countryside. Sadly once we arrived into Datong we were told that there were no buses out to wutai shan the last one tha http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-136952.html Depending on whose statistics you manage to get hold of and the real ones are almost impossible on a Chinese computer as the internet censors have been at work again Datong is in the top three most polluted cities in China. Which puts it in the top 20 worldwide. I had heard that the city was pretty grim but I wasn't exactly sure how dangerously high levels of toxins in the air would present http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-135585.html We arrived in Datong really early in the morning something like 630 and found the CITS office in the station. Three other backpackers also made their way into the office and we sat while the guide explained our tour options. We all signed up to go to Yungang Caves and the Hanging Temple leaving at 9 o'clock. CITS told us there were no train tickets left for onward travel to Xian so we wo http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-109244.html Woensdag 4 oktober.Het was natuurlijk weer op tijd op staan om om 7 uur te kunnen vertrekken. De ochtendspits in Datong was al begonnen zodat het heel wat tijd kostte om de stad uit te geraken. Eens uit de stad rijden we in een vallei met verschillende mooie uitzichtspunten maar ook met verschillende steenkoolmijnen. De streek rond Datong is een belangrijke steenkoolleverancier. Als je ergens i http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-103190.html Cuevas budistas construidas hace miles de anos en varias etapas. Contienen grandes estatuas de piedra de budas mas de 50.000 budas en total a lo largo de casi 50 cuevas algunas de ellas pintadas. Lugar impresionante y poco conocido por turistas extranjeros. English Buddist caves built thousands of years ago in various periods. They contain big budda statues more than 50.000 over almost 50 caves http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-102079.html Zondag 1 oktober.Om 9 uur gingen we op stap om de stad wat te verkennen. Wegens 1 oktober nationale feestdag was het zeer druk en heerste er een sfeer van een braderij er waren feestelijke openingen van nieuwe of vernieuwde winkels en om de haverklap een 'modeshow' van diverse merken en soorten kleding. Zo werd bijvoorbeeld het nieuwste winterondergoed voor hem en haar getoond en er werd zo te http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-101800.html We arrived in Datong 2030 from Beijing by taking the train with a soft sleeper option. This is a four person berth but we were lucky to get it alone. Upon arrival we walked out of the train station looking for The Hotel Datong which had recommendations from various travel blogs. Of course we could not find it we did have a ldquohelpfulrdquo person instructing us to follow him down a dark http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-96939.html Dinsdag 10 oktober 2006.Zr vroeg uit de veren want ontbijt om 6.30 uur vertrek om 7.30 uur. Oei Ludo had zich een uur vergistOm 8.30 uur verlieten we het Fei Tian Hotel in Datong en reden we per minibus naar HUNYUAN beroemd om zijn hangend klooster gebouwd tegen de HENG SHAN n van de heilige bergen. Het eerste klooster dateert uit de 6de eeuw onder de Noordelijke Wei dynastie. Vooral de t http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-96034.html Maandag 09 oktober 2006.Om 7 uur vlogen we allen het bed uit. Wim kwam op de deur kloppen om verslapen te vermijden. En dan op weg naar ons de bende van 4 eerste Chinees ontbijt in het hotel zelf gestoomde broodjes een nogal vettige maar toch lekkere koek of hoe het ook mag heten een hardgekookt eitje groenten en thee de ldquo3 wijzenrdquo hadden reeds koffie gedronken op de kamer http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-96028.html Twee weken in oktober zouden we bezoek krijgen. In eerste instantie zouden ze met vijf zijn maar Caroline kon door haar drukke agenda uiteindelijk toch niet mee. Het was dus logisch dat onze bezoekers vanaf dan de bijnaam lsquode bende van vierrsquo zou krijgen.Al heel snel na hun aankomst bleek dat ze bereid waren om regelmatig het schrijven van het verslag over te nemen. Amanda was de eerst http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-95746.html Am 5. Oktober machte ich mich auf den Weg nach Datong. Die Zugfahrt war eine absolut neue Erfahrung fuer mich. In den Zuegen Chinas gibt es bestimmte Klassen hard seat soft seat hard sleeper und soft sleeper. An diesem Tag fuhr ich auf einem harten Platz und es war wirklich sehr aufregend. Eingequetscht zwischen 2 Chinesen man sitzt zu dritt auf einer Bank ging es 7 Stunden in Richtung NordW http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-94695.html Nachdem ich mein erstes Ticket nach Datong verfallen lies ging es nun endlich los. Tageszugfahrt war geplant so dass ich die Landschaft bewundern konnte. Da die Chinesen ein wenig kleiner sind als wir ist es mit der Beinfreiheit nicht weit her. Sieben Stunden eingequetscht neben Kindern die auf den Boden pinkeln aus dem Fenster spukenden Leuten auch Frauen ist wirklich ein besonderes Erleb http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-93194.html After the Great Wall we spent our final day in Beijing checking out some of the local markets. We bargained hard and found that if yoursquore really not interested in what yoursquore buying and are willing to walk away you can get things for an absolute steal because they chase you down and virtually give it away We picked up some small souvenirs and Faye got some jewellery.Later in the eve http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-91893.html After a long day of traveling we arrived in Pingyao tonight. This morning we had to catch a bus from Datong to Taiyuan and then walk to the train station and buy tickets for a train from Taiyuan to Pingyao. First Irsquoll tell you about Datong. The train from Beijing to Datong was approximately 6 hours long. I woke up feeling very under the weather and it only continued to get worse. 3 hours int http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-91711.html Sunday September 24 2006 Today we arrived in Datong around 7am. We went to the CITS office at the train station this is the goverment run tourist office and planned our day. We decided like so many others on our train to just do a day tour and leave the same night on a train to Pingyao. We had a couple of hours to kill so I got a breakfast pancake kind of thing on the street and we boug http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanxi/Datong/blog-91632.html