Yungang Grottoes, the Hanging Temple and a former Northern Wei capital.
Datong was the capital of the Northern Wei dynasty and a cradle of Buddhist art in northern China. Its two headline sights — the Yungang Grottoes and the Hanging Temple — are among the most jaw-dropping in the country.
The city itself has been rebuilt with a massive Ming city wall you can walk, and a revitalised old town of temples and noodle shops.
Here are the highlights worth your time in Datong.
252 caves of 5th-century Buddhist sculpture, a UNESCO site.
Tickets ¥120A wooden temple clamped to a cliff face 75 m up — engineering vertigo.
Tickets ¥100 + climbing ¥15A huge restored Ming wall, lit at night, walkable on top.
FreeA Liao-dynasty temple with a rare 'reversed' main hall.
Tickets ¥50A 600-year-old glazed-brick dragon screen, bigger than Beijing's.
Tickets ¥10The world's oldest wooden pagoda (1056), ~70 km away.
Tickets ¥60Datong has its own kitchen — here are the dishes to try.
Springy noodles shaved straight into the pot.
A peppery northern-Shanxi lamb soup.
Cold bean jelly with chili from the Hanging Temple county.
Open dumplings steamed and peppered.
A glutinous millet cake, a local staple.
The wall and squares light up.
Calm spots in the rebuilt old town.
Evening music on the wall.
High-speed from Beijing (~2 h); from Taiyuan ~2.5 h.
Datong Yungang (DAT) has domestic flights.
Coaches to the Hanging Temple and Yingxian pagoda.
Works with foreign cards.
Old town and wall are walkable.
Where you stay shapes the trip. Three good bases:
By the wall and temples.
Practical and central.
Quiet, for an early visit.
Buddhist-art lovers, UNESCO seekers, road-trippers.
