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Posted On Saturday, September 7, 2013 at
at
11:40 PM
by Alvin
A couple of pleasant bus journeys lasting 7 hours, took us away from Ping Yao (平遙古城) in the south, to Da Tong (大同) in the north of Shanxi Province (山西) via the provincial capital of Tai Yuan (太原). The main trunk road linking the south and north of Shanxi was dotted with many worth-while destinations such as Wu Tai Shan (五台山), glacial caves, picturesque mountains and countless ancient cities. But for now, we were satisfied in heading to Da Tong - being once the capital of Northern China around 400 A.D. during the Wei Dynasty (魏晋南北朝) era, Da Tong had a great deal of ancient artifacts including a series of imposing fortress walls, a majestic grand mosque as well as countless Buddhist and Taoist temples of royal heritage. We based ourselves here for an enjoyable three days when we visited the stunning Yun Gang Buddhist Grottoes (雲岡石窟), the Taoist mountain of 恒山 as well as a lazy look-around of the ancient city. We stayed right by the Da Tong train station and we watched with amusement the changing-of-lights (green-blue-red-purple-yellow) of the train station at night (a photo attached below).
Of particular note was the series of Yun Gang Buddhist Grottoes, located 16km from Da Tong - beautifully constructed, chiseled, moulded and painted, The Great Buddha appeared in more than 50,000 stunning presentations, all with different postures and expressions (but always kind and generous with that familiar knowing smile, of course) in over 50 grottoes; now that was a lot of hard work ! We casually spent over 5 hours at the site, peering, wowing and oo-ing over the fantastically constructed figures and statues, it was a most satisfying visit. Back in Da Tong proper, we visited numerous temples including 華嚴寺 and 九龍壁 as well as a long walk around the giant city walls, now almost completely being renovated. Da Tong turned out to be much more interesting than we had first anticipated, both historically as well as a relaxing destination.
A couple of pleasant bus journeys lasting 7 hours, took us away from Ping Yao (平遙古城) in the south, to Da Tong (大同) in the north of Shanxi Province (山西) via the provincial capital of Tai Yuan (太原). The main trunk road linking the south and north of Shanxi was dotted with many worth-while destinations such as Wu Tai Shan (五台山), glacial caves, picturesque mountains and countless ancient cities. But for now, we were satisfied in heading to Da Tong - being once the capital of Northern China around 400 A.D. during the Wei Dynasty (魏晋南北朝) era, Da Tong had a great deal of ancient artifacts including a series of imposing fortress walls, a majestic grand mosque as well as countless Buddhist and Taoist temples of royal heritage. We based ourselves here for an enjoyable three days when we visited the stunning Yun Gang Buddhist Grottoes (雲岡石窟), the Taoist mountain of 恒山 as well as a lazy look-around of the ancient city. We stayed right by the Da Tong train station and we watched with amusement the changing-of-lights (green-blue-red-purple-yellow) of the train station at night (a photo attached below).
Of particular note was the series of Yun Gang Buddhist Grottoes, located 16km from Da Tong - beautifully constructed, chiseled, moulded and painted, The Great Buddha appeared in more than 50,000 stunning presentations, all with different postures and expressions (but always kind and generous with that familiar knowing smile, of course) in over 50 grottoes; now that was a lot of hard work ! We casually spent over 5 hours at the site, peering, wowing and oo-ing over the fantastically constructed figures and statues, it was a most satisfying visit. Back in Da Tong proper, we visited numerous temples including 華嚴寺 and 九龍壁 as well as a long walk around the giant city walls, now almost completely being renovated. Da Tong turned out to be much more interesting than we had first anticipated, both historically as well as a relaxing destination.
