Datong was the capital of the Northern Wei dynasty when its monks began cutting the Yungang Grottoes into a sandstone cliff — 51,000 Buddhist figures that have watched sixteen centuries go by. A frontier garrison ever since, the city has spent recent years trading coal dust for culture: its Ming walls rebuilt and lit at night, its Liao-dynasty temples restored, high-speed trains now running under two hours from Beijing. The air is clear more days than not, the food is hearty frontier fare, and the grottoes alone justify the trip.
The full handbook is part of the paid series
You have read the free preview — the introduction and the route map. The complete handbook adds the day-by-day plan, tickets and transport, culture and etiquette, food, useful Chinese, and the dated source list.