Datong Travel Guide|Yungang Grottoes|Xuankong Temple

 

Datong as a city name has a deep meaning in Chinese traditional culture. Datong(大同, The Great Unity) is a classical Chinese term found in classical Chinese philosophy which has been invoked many times in modern Chinese history. It refers to a utopian vision of the world in which everyone and everything is at peace). Datong is the most ideal pursuit in ancient politics of China. The great ideology is run for justice under the sun. Talented and excellent candidates are selected; honesty and harmony are emphasized. People can not only raise their own family, or can not raise their own children. The elder in the world should be raised well before they pass away; the adult should have their careers for life; the infant should be cared well for growth; the widow, the bachelor, the solitary and the handicapped are all raised well. Man has different choices in job selections and woman has their families, husbands and children. People must cherish what they get via working but people must share them with all; people can not save their vigor but take all-out effort in work. Hence, in the world, gates of all houses can be opened all day long and stealing and robberies also vanish. And then the whole world is Datong(The Great Unity).

Datong located in the north of Shanxi province, is the points of intersection of Beijing-Baotou Railway, North Datong-Puzhou Railway and Datong-Qinhuangdao Railway. In east, it is on the verge of Zhangjiakou city of Hebei province; in southwest, it is close to Shouzhou city of Shanxi province; in south, it is near to Xinzhou; in north it borders on Inner Mongolian Autonomous region. Currently Datong has a population of more than 3300,000. Datong is the second largest city in Shanxi province and boasts Capital of Coal Mine and City of Phoenix. Datong is under the influence of continental monsoon climate of temperate zone. It has four distinctive seasons.

 

Datong is the important place for military affairs and strategy. Different sized wars or battles broke out here for thousands of times. In his area, there is a Mapu Mountain used to be the battlefield for seven-day war between troops of Han Dynasty under the leadership of Emperor Gaozu who was the first emperor of Han dynasty and troops of Hun. There is also a place named Jinshatan is the battleground of General of Yang family against of entry of Liao dynasty, which used to be in north China. Datong in history was always one of the influential cities in north China, and traditionally Datong was the north central cityof China.

In Datong, the famous attractions are:

Yungang Grottoes

(is the masterpiece of Chinese ancient carving statue, Yungang Grottoes is equally famous with Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang and Dunhuang Grottoes); Shanhua Temple (publicly called South Temple, Shanhua Temple is the important cultural site under the state-level protection ). Ning-Dragon Wall (Jiulongbi is a rare wall in China, and there are only three in China. the other two are in Forbidden City in Beijing and in Beihai Park in Beijing . Jiulongbi in Datong is the best one), Huayan temple, Wild Goose Pagoda, Drum Tower, Phoenix-Arrival Pavilion or Fenglinge, Kwan-Yin Hall, Xuankong Temple, Hengshan Mountain，Mausoleum of Zhaowulingwang, Thermal Spring of Tangtou, Volcano group, Water-God Hall, Jueshan Temple, Old Site of Pingcheng, Pingxing Pass, D esheng Castle and Great Wall section in Datong. The surrounding attractions include: Wooden Pagoda in Ying County, Yanmen Pass, and Wutaishan Mountain and so on.

Datong has a very convenient traffic system. Its railway system, highway system and airlines are all available easily. Travelers can get to other places easily in a short time. Generally travelers of Datong also visit Taiyuan and Pingyao. Also the distance from Datong to Beijing and east coastal area is very short. So generally travelers can easily arrive in Beijing quickly.