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Published: October 27th 2012
Being woken up at 5am is never nice, but when it is on a night train which you have to quickly get off, you are still half asleep, disorientated and its sub zero degrees outside, its even worse. This was the start of our day in Datong!
With the sun not rearing it's head for the day for at least an hour or two, the bitter temperatures and the persistant taxi drivers starting to annoy us, we had little choice other than to find a nearby 'cafe' and sit it out for a while. When we walked in, the place fell silent and we immediately had tens of eyes looking at us like we were martians but it was the only place open at that time; with no English menu avaliable and the cook/owner not happy with us just sitting there to keep warm we had to pluck for something to eat, knowing full well that whatever we chose we would be watched closely, so went for the freshly steamed dumplings (with mystery meat) dipped in Shanxi vinegar which didn't quite taste as good as they looked but were edible.
When it finally got light, we ventured out into
the cold (it was freezing!) to try and find a hotel which would let us store our bags for the day, as we weren't here to see the city (or lack of it) but to explore the ancient Yungang caves which were two buses and 50km away - only 30km away from the Inner Mongolian border, no wonder it was so cold, plus as we were told strong winds were blowing in from Siberia - it was seriously baltic and we weren't prepared for that!
We stored our bags and after rejecting various tours set off on our own to the caves which took around 80 minutes on two local buses and was very easy. On arrival we wondered if we were at the right place as everything was so pristine and new-looking, but it appeared that the entrance and surrounding areas had been renovated a few years ago and that the caves were actually further back, so we walked through a pretty Pagoda, a traditional (but modern) Chinese temple, a mirror lake and past some monks burning their morning fires before reaching the start of the Yungang caves.
The caves are ancient Chinese Buddhist temple grottos way
back from the 5th and 6th centuries when people used to live in them, and are filled with amazing stone carvings of over 50,000 Buddha statues. They were uncovered years ago and some have since been preserved/restored as they were severly damaged by the weather over the years, but most still retain their original carvings which really impressed us. We walked through the caves taking them all in and admiring the giant Buddha's inside and out for a good couple of hours despite the cold and were amazed at how anyone could have survived in them. Some of them you were allowed to go in which was cool but most you could only view from the outside, but it was clear to see how the winds had deteriorated some of the carvings which were more exposed. We really enjoyed our visit to the Yungang caves and they were well worth visiting, unlike the city of Datong which is being completely renovated so resembles a construction site.
Our train out of Datong wasn't until later that afternoon, so we tried to go and see Nine Dragon Screen in the centre of town but couldn't get to it due to all
the construction, so spent the next couple of hours hiding out in a shopping mall, which was odd as it was brand new while the rest of the city was crumbling, before going back to get our bags and making our way to the train station for our evening train to Pingyao.
S&V's Travel Info & Tips: General Info: Approx 10 RMB/Yuan to £1. There is nothing really worth staying in Datong for and visiting the Yungang caves can easily be done in a few hours. Transportation: We took a sleeper train from Beijing - Datong which took 6 hours and cost 99 RMB each. To get to the Yungang Caves, take a number 4 bus from outside the train station to the last stop (1 RMB) then change to a number 3 bus, again until the last stop (1 RMB). The journey takes around 1 hour - 90 minutes. Food: We hardly saw any food options in Datong so had KFC in the shopping mall! Accomodation: There seemed to be a few business hotels near the train station but the city really isn't worth staying in for long. Other observations: x) The whole city is being rebuilt, even the city walls, so aside from the caves there isn't much to do/see in Datong. The Hanging Monastry is supposed to be ok but we didn't go there. xx) Again using our student cards got us into the Yungang Caves for half price (75 RMB insted of 150 RMB) so they are well worth getting.
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
DATONG
Please tell me where you took this pic...haven't seen it before. As to Datong we had a totally different appreciation for what is on offer...and we did it in -20 deg C. I'm blogging it soon. The main degrading of Yunggang Grottoes is not just wind. It is from the coal mines across the road...some of the biggest in China. Hope you love Pingyao...unique vibe.