Photos of Datong 大同: Mount Heng, Remnants of the Great Wall, Yungang Grottoes, Datong Train Station
Heng Shan 恒山 Mount Heng
Heng Shan is one of the Five Sacred Mountains of Taoism. It is 2,017 m high. Confusingly, Heng Shan in Shanxi province is sometimes called the Northern Heng Shan - this is to distinguish it from the Southern Heng Shan 衡山 in Hunan Province. Both mountains have the same pronunciation in Chinese, and the Southern Heng Shan is also one of the Five Sacred Mountains. Talk about confusing.
We had a choice of walking up or taking a cable car up.
It was a VERY hot day and so we elected to take a cable car up and then walk down.
After we got up to the top, we discovered that we had to buy a new ticket to see the various temples that were located all over the mountain.
These stairs were very steep and I have to admit that I thought twice and then three times about climbing up ... I was afraid I'd end up like this little old lady - paralysed with fear and unable to move up or down.
I made it to the top but looking down, I was glad I hadn't paused to enjoy the view along the way
We continued our walk
The Canadian and I sat here for a little while to enjoy the view.
We called this The Lonely Tree
Our driver waiting for us far away ...
Remnants of the Great Wall
I really wanted to see the 'wild' and non-restored sections of the wall. Unfortunately, we were too tired on the Saturday. I think Mr. Liu sensed my disappointment so on Sunday, we got up extra early and he took us to a section of the wall near Xin Rong Qu. Breakfast at the hotel started at 7am but Mr. Liu had suggested a 7am departure. We asked the hotel if they minded putting out some bread etc so that we could have toast for breakfast. We specifically mentioned that we didn't need anything else, but what did the hotel do? They had breakfast start half an hour early - all the cooked food, too!
Anyway, sure enough - we came upon the remnants of a watch tower
You can see the other watch towers in the distance
Mr. Liu convinced me to climb to the top of a watch tower. I was very apprehensive and did so - but was very fearful I wouldn't be able to get down again :D By now you will see that I am a big chicken :P
Old Fort
Mr. Liu took us to the remnants of an old fort that still had a complete gate.
The Canadian found some mangy sheep goats. We can't tell if they're sheep or goats ...
I encountered this very serious-looking donkey.
I knew there wouldn't be proper toilet facilities but I wasn't expecting that there would be an angry German Shepherd barking on the left while I stared at the 'toilet' on the right which appeared to be a pit behind a low brick wall :D
Yungang Grottoes/云冈石窟
The Yungang Grottoes are 1,500 years old. These are mountain-side caves and recesses - apparently more than 50 in total. They are filled with 51,000 Buddhist statues. The largest is a 56-foot Seated Buddha
Look at this very large wooden building...
It's built into the caves
Inside there are elaborate carvings
Outside the tourists gathered
Hmm
Photos in the classic, stiff-armed style :)
Caves, caves, caves
So many buddhas
Noseless buddhas
Buddhas in windows
Buddhas in bandages
Broken pillar near buddhas
Mini buddhas
Big buddhas
Tourists striking a pose in front of a giant buddha
Non-Buddhas in alcoves
Tiny tot
Also, despite the ancient carvings around us, many of the tourists appeared more interest in the Canadian and quite a few of them asked to have photos with him.
Other Stuff
Near the grottoes, the Canadian took a photo of this man whose sole job appeared to be to break smash this hunk of concrete
After the grottoes, our driver took us for a quick visit to the Three Dragon Screen. Cool mask
Funny sign :)
The Trip Home
Mr. Liu our driver was so cool. He insisted on taking us to the train station after we'd had our rest at the hotel. He worked for the Lei Fung Taxi Company. Lei Feng 雷锋 was a soldier of the PLA and is portrayed as a hero of the people.
At the train station, the poor Canadian was the only foreigner in the waiting room and he got a lot of stares.
The station was certainly brighter than Beijing station and this policy was a relief:
Smoking room - these poor individuals inside look so desperate, especially as in big letters outside it says: "Smoking damages your health" :)
Passengers waiting
Notice board for our train - our train was slightly delayed
Unhappily, one passtime when waiting for the train was nose-picking. This young man and his friend were vigorous (and a bit disgusting) with how enthusiastically they'd nose-pick!! I didn't mind the picking so much - it was when they examined it and then flicked it that I got very worried :P
Lots of people packed LOTS of instant noodles for their trip
Our carriage seemed nicer this time - a bit cleaner. I took the hotel slippers so that I could take my shoes off in the carriage. The train provides slippers, but I wanted my own clean pair
This is supposed to say "squat toilet" but it says something else!
The trip back to Beijing was very comfortable - I found it much more comfortable than the trip to Datong. Our carriage-mate was a Datong man who worked for a US company in Beijing. He was very friendly and chatty and when we got to Beijing, he let us share a cab with him, dropped us back at our apartment and didn't let us pay him any of the cab fare!
This was consistent with the friendlines we encountered throughout the trip. Even staff at KFC were very helpful - we went there to grab a quick lunch before we caught the train back to Beijing. The hotel staff were amazing. At one point we asked the doorman where we could find a convenience store. He said: "Oh, that's quite far - what do you want to buy? I'll buy it for you" and looked as if he was about to dash off and do our shopping for us. We had to stop him and tell him we wanted to do our own shopping. The staff in the restaurant were hilariously attentive and hovered over us - in a funny not a creepy way. The housekeeping staff were also extremely cheerful and seemed to be dying to help. Accordingly, although Datong may at this point still be undergoing a great deal of construction thereby resulting in rather dirty streets - the people we were encountered were very polite and friendly.
Heng Shan is one of the Five Sacred Mountains of Taoism. It is 2,017 m high. Confusingly, Heng Shan in Shanxi province is sometimes called the Northern Heng Shan - this is to distinguish it from the Southern Heng Shan 衡山 in Hunan Province. Both mountains have the same pronunciation in Chinese, and the Southern Heng Shan is also one of the Five Sacred Mountains. Talk about confusing.
We had a choice of walking up or taking a cable car up.
It was a VERY hot day and so we elected to take a cable car up and then walk down.
After we got up to the top, we discovered that we had to buy a new ticket to see the various temples that were located all over the mountain.
These stairs were very steep and I have to admit that I thought twice and then three times about climbing up ... I was afraid I'd end up like this little old lady - paralysed with fear and unable to move up or down.
I made it to the top but looking down, I was glad I hadn't paused to enjoy the view along the way
We continued our walk
The Canadian and I sat here for a little while to enjoy the view.
We called this The Lonely Tree
Our driver waiting for us far away ...
Remnants of the Great Wall
I really wanted to see the 'wild' and non-restored sections of the wall. Unfortunately, we were too tired on the Saturday. I think Mr. Liu sensed my disappointment so on Sunday, we got up extra early and he took us to a section of the wall near Xin Rong Qu. Breakfast at the hotel started at 7am but Mr. Liu had suggested a 7am departure. We asked the hotel if they minded putting out some bread etc so that we could have toast for breakfast. We specifically mentioned that we didn't need anything else, but what did the hotel do? They had breakfast start half an hour early - all the cooked food, too!
Anyway, sure enough - we came upon the remnants of a watch tower
You can see the other watch towers in the distance
Mr. Liu convinced me to climb to the top of a watch tower. I was very apprehensive and did so - but was very fearful I wouldn't be able to get down again :D By now you will see that I am a big chicken :P
Old Fort
Mr. Liu took us to the remnants of an old fort that still had a complete gate.
The Canadian found some mangy sheep goats. We can't tell if they're sheep or goats ...
I encountered this very serious-looking donkey.
I knew there wouldn't be proper toilet facilities but I wasn't expecting that there would be an angry German Shepherd barking on the left while I stared at the 'toilet' on the right which appeared to be a pit behind a low brick wall :D
Yungang Grottoes/云冈石窟
The Yungang Grottoes are 1,500 years old. These are mountain-side caves and recesses - apparently more than 50 in total. They are filled with 51,000 Buddhist statues. The largest is a 56-foot Seated Buddha
Look at this very large wooden building...
It's built into the caves
Inside there are elaborate carvings
Outside the tourists gathered
Hmm
Photos in the classic, stiff-armed style :)
Caves, caves, caves
So many buddhas
Noseless buddhas
Buddhas in windows
Buddhas in bandages
Broken pillar near buddhas
Mini buddhas
Big buddhas
Tourists striking a pose in front of a giant buddha
Non-Buddhas in alcoves
Tiny tot
Also, despite the ancient carvings around us, many of the tourists appeared more interest in the Canadian and quite a few of them asked to have photos with him.
Other Stuff
Near the grottoes, the Canadian took a photo of this man whose sole job appeared to be to break smash this hunk of concrete
After the grottoes, our driver took us for a quick visit to the Three Dragon Screen. Cool mask
Funny sign :)
The Trip Home
Mr. Liu our driver was so cool. He insisted on taking us to the train station after we'd had our rest at the hotel. He worked for the Lei Fung Taxi Company. Lei Feng 雷锋 was a soldier of the PLA and is portrayed as a hero of the people.
At the train station, the poor Canadian was the only foreigner in the waiting room and he got a lot of stares.
The station was certainly brighter than Beijing station and this policy was a relief:
Smoking room - these poor individuals inside look so desperate, especially as in big letters outside it says: "Smoking damages your health" :)
Passengers waiting
Notice board for our train - our train was slightly delayed
Unhappily, one passtime when waiting for the train was nose-picking. This young man and his friend were vigorous (and a bit disgusting) with how enthusiastically they'd nose-pick!! I didn't mind the picking so much - it was when they examined it and then flicked it that I got very worried :P
Lots of people packed LOTS of instant noodles for their trip
Our carriage seemed nicer this time - a bit cleaner. I took the hotel slippers so that I could take my shoes off in the carriage. The train provides slippers, but I wanted my own clean pair
This is supposed to say "squat toilet" but it says something else!
The trip back to Beijing was very comfortable - I found it much more comfortable than the trip to Datong. Our carriage-mate was a Datong man who worked for a US company in Beijing. He was very friendly and chatty and when we got to Beijing, he let us share a cab with him, dropped us back at our apartment and didn't let us pay him any of the cab fare!
This was consistent with the friendlines we encountered throughout the trip. Even staff at KFC were very helpful - we went there to grab a quick lunch before we caught the train back to Beijing. The hotel staff were amazing. At one point we asked the doorman where we could find a convenience store. He said: "Oh, that's quite far - what do you want to buy? I'll buy it for you" and looked as if he was about to dash off and do our shopping for us. We had to stop him and tell him we wanted to do our own shopping. The staff in the restaurant were hilariously attentive and hovered over us - in a funny not a creepy way. The housekeeping staff were also extremely cheerful and seemed to be dying to help. Accordingly, although Datong may at this point still be undergoing a great deal of construction thereby resulting in rather dirty streets - the people we were encountered were very polite and friendly.