The thousand Buddhas of the Yungang Grottoes, the cliff-hung beams of the Hanging Temple, the great Liao-Jin halls of Huayan Temple and the four-square old city wall — Datong keeps both the Buddhist splendour of the Northern Wei and the weight of a frontier capital.
Three routes — from Buddhist grottoes to a cliff-hung wonder and old-city traces.
Buddhist Grottoes
1 dayHalf a day among the Northern Wei thousand-Buddhas of Yungang; the open-air giant of Cave 20 is the showpiece.
See full route →Cliff-Hung Wonder
1 dayThe cliff-pinned beams of the Hanging Temple (2,475 tickets a day, face check-in), then a climb up Mount Heng.
See full route →Old-City Traces
1 dayWalk the city wall, the great Liao-Jin halls of Huayan Temple, and the Nine-Dragon Wall in the old town.
See full route →Echoes of the Northern Wei and the frontier: Shuawa'er opera, Beilu bangzi, copperware and paper-cuts.
The noodle fragrance of north Shanxi: knife-cut noodles, mutton offal, yellow rice cake and jelly.