China - Datong and the Yungang Grottos

On our way to Pingyao from Beijing, we decided to make a stop at Datong to go and see the Yungang Grottoes and hopefully the hanging monastery.  Sadly, we discovered the monastery is being repainted, sorry I mean restored, so we could only really go to the grottos. But in any case it we would have been pushing it for time and the monastery is a good couple of hours out of town.

The Yungang Grottos

Having arrived at 6.30am from Beijing on our first hard sleeper train, we headed straight to left luggage to drop off our backpacks (10 CNY per bag, closes at 22:00) and were quickly approached by a chap from a tour agency who was hanging outside the railway station. Despite trying to sell us his services, he could speak very good english and was particularly helpful in directing us to the right bus. So after saying thanks, but no thanks, we were quickly on our way.

We caught the 603 from outside the KFC right next to the station. We were fairly sure this was the right bus, but we were in no doubt when a group of Chinese ladies in neon coloured jackets appeared and got rather excited we were going to the grottos, which as it turned out, was the same place they were.

The journey took about 45 minutes and cost 3 CNY, just enough time for a quick nap.

When we arrived we realised a lot of money had been ploughed into the site. Turning a blind eye to the coal mine over the road, we were greeted by huge gates, which strangely seemed only designed for car traffic as there was no obvious footpath. But we navigated through them, past the tourist Camel and found ourselves in front of a huge visitor centre.

A tourist camel... but no tourists...

We had no idea why they needed such a big visitor centre, but it seemed like they had money to burn, given the rather steep entrance fee of 125 CNY (our student cards didn't work here, but if they did it would have been half price).
They have rather Disneyfied (if such a word exists) the area, which was a bit of a shame. There was a large park, lots of (unnecessary) buildings, an archery area (no idea why???), shops and, the now standard, electric vehicles. Chris was able to convince the chap at the archery to give us a few free arrows, which was fun.

Huge pagoda in the middle of the temple.

We proceeded through the park past a metal tree (again no idea why is was there) and across a bridge to a huge brand-new temple. It was fairly deserted and being new it didn't have the finesse of the older temples we had seen. So we whisked straight through it to get to what we had come to see - the grottos.

The grottos

The Yungang Grottos

There are 252 grottos (not that we counted) containing some 51,000 Buddhas (again we decided to trust Lonely Planet on this figure) along a rocky ridge. All were intricately carved and many still with colour pigments - which apparently were original. They were carved out of the solid rock from the 5th and 6th centuries and were a major site in their day for pilgrims.

Amazing carvings

They are some of the best preserved grottoes in China and were designated UNESCO world heritage site in 2001 and were described (says Wikipedia) by UNESCO as a "masterpiece of early Chinese Buddhist cave art... [and] ...represent the successful fusion of Buddhist religious symbolic art from south and central Asia with Chinese cultural traditions, starting in the 5th century CE under Imperial auspices." So in our opinion well worth the visit.

Some of the grottoes are in better condition than others, with many of the Buddha images in the outer facing grottoes having been weathered.  However, there are so many, this did not hinder the impact of the area.

Atmospheric

It is possible to go in many of the caves, which makes for some interesting exploring. The first major grotto cave you come to covers a 10m high Buddha image with smaller Buddhas either side.  Outside it was obvious this was a grand grotto in its day, with large carved pillars either side of the entrance and multiple niches. This was our first real taste, but better was to come.

The wooden buildings covering the caves

Some of the grottoes would have had wooden structures outside to protect them, and some still exist or have been reconstructed. The grottoes inside these structures have been mostly been restored, and give you an amazing impression of how many of the caves may have looked. The very intricate carvings are exceptional and the colours extremely vivid.  As you walk in and around the central column, you can really appreciate the level of workmanship and skill used to construct them.

Exceptional carvings

Wow

Amazing colour and detail

The wooden buildings themselves are quite interesting and give an impression on what the hanging monastery may have been like.

Wooden buildings built into the rock

Sadly a couple of the more intricately carved grottoes were closed, including the one with the largest Buddha, but this wasn't a major problem as there were many others to check out.

Thats one big Buddha

As we continued to explore, we came across the Buddha image which is probably the most famous. Sitting outside, and quite clearly reconstructed, the Buddha made a great spot for photos. It even had eyes, which was a little freaky against the plain stone.

A little weather beaten, but probably the most famous Buddha at the grottos

After some more exploring, we had had our fill so followed a sign to the museum. I must say the building is very impressive (obvious where the ticket money was going) and the stroll through the gardens was pleasant. But the contents of the museum itself was a bit of a disappointment. On the plus side, the toilets were good and it was nice to escape the heat for a short time.

Fancy building... shame it the contents were not very good

We decided to have one last look at the grottos as we wondered back to the bus and once again looked in amazement at the carving.

Beautiful

It seemed that the best time to come would be around lunch or early afternoon as the place was now empty, but it was not particularly busy anyway.

We picked up the bus from where we had got off and headed back to Datong, reflecting on what we had just seen.

Datong

Datong, as a city was a bit of a disappointment and it was difficult to fill the rest of the day.  If we had thought about this a little more, we could have gone up to the dessert part of The Great Wall, which is a few hours north, but it was a little too late, so we decided to give Datong a go.

Thats one big (new) wall

The city looks impressive as you pass by on the bus to the grottos with large city walls and a lot of construction. But this being China, all is not as it seems. 

The city is going through a state of change, and a lot of CNY is being spent to make it into a tourist destination - time will tell if the money was well spent. The city walls are spectacular, but they are all new and still being built, so most of the area inside the walls are a building site. The areas that have been re-built lack personality, are already looking rundown and are completely empty of people and shops. 

Where is everyone?

The 'sites', of which there are few, are very expensive. But we did decide to go to see the largest dragon screen in China (10 CNY, or half price for student).

The largest dragon screen in China (apparently)

...its big

There is the huge 'China Sculpture Gallery' in the north gate of the wall, which had big potential, but was closed. However, after some negotiation with the guards, we were allowed in.  It was a little weird as all the sculptures were wrapped up in plastic and it was clear they were doing building work so we really should not have been there.  It was a well put together museum though, even if we only stayed 10 minutes.

The (closed) China Sculpture Gallery

We ended up at a bar in the middle of town on the pedestrianised street with rather expensive beers given this is a bit of a backwater (of over a million people). But the sofas were in the sunshine and it gave us the opportunity to relax, have a chat and write some blog.

Dinner was interesting. There was only one real restaurant in the city, but this seemed a bit over the top for what we wanted. So we headed to a street that had lots of neon and looked like it had some potential.  We ended up at this fun help yourself/DIY noodle/hotpot place.  You get a tray, select what you want from the chiller and then give it to the staff who cook it for you in a rather tasty peanut hotpot broth.  It was just what we needed and filled us up nicely.

Dinner - what shall I pick?

It was soon time to head back to the station to pick up our bags and catch our overnight train.  We decided to save a little cash and go by bus so we headed off to find the number 15 bus from outside the city walls.  

Public transport is good in China apart for two things. 1 - it stops ridiculously early - the last bus from the centre of town was at 19:00 and the last bus anywhere stopped at 20:30! and 2 - metros/subways stop at about 22:30-23:00, making any kind of late journey very difficult by public transport. 

Luckily after 20 minutes of waiting and being convinced by a sweet Chinese girl that everything would be okay, the number 15 turned up and we were on our way to the, rather flashy, Datong railway station.

Waiting for our train

We picked up our bags from the rather nice lady at left luggage, and headed to our waiting room (before catching any train you have to wait in a waiting room rather than the platform) to watch some Dexter before our second overnight train.

Datong, well the sites around Datong, make a great day stop over. It is not worth staying the night in the town, so squeeze it between two overnight trains. It is worth planning your time there though so you can fit in the grottos - well worth the visit - and another site, such as the Great Wall or hanging monastery. It would be easy to do.

The grottos were well worth it and we were glad we stopped off. We were highly impressed (even for the steep entry fee) and would highly recommend a visit if you have time.

Bed!

Next stop - Pingyao