Datong

As interesting as the train ride was (see previous post), our weekend in Datong was actually really amazing too. Although the city itself is fairly nondescript, the world heritage listed Yungang grottoes and the hanging monastery made our trip well worth the journey.

The grottoes are caves filled with 1500 year old buddhist carvings. There's a total of 51,000 carved buddhas ranging in height from a few centimetres to about 15 metres. The guide book said to 'be prepared to be blown away'. And we were.

The hanging monastery was equally awe-inspiring. A monastery of about the same vintage as the grottoes was built literally onto a cliff face. The picture says it all. Walking through was also quite an experience. Terrifying at some points, even though i'm not afraid of heights! (Walking along narrow wooden walkways with knee height railings being the only thing standing between me and a long drop down to the bottom of the cliff no a pleasant thought. Definitely not up to aussie safety standards, but that said, it felt authentic. I'm sure if it had been tourist-proofed to proper western standards it would lose a lot of it's charm).

And finally, Datong. We did spend some time here in the evenings and managed to find a nice night market to get some dinner and walked around the town square where the locals congregate in the evenings. We didn't see another westerner all weekend, so we became quite a spectacle. From blatant stares, to posing in pictures with random chinese people - I feel like i now know what it's like to be a celebrity on the streets!

I've put up an album of photos from the weekend up on facebook for those who want to see more!