A Three-Day Datong Cultural Heritage Tour​

Your guide and driver will pick you up from Datong Yungang Airport and transfer you to your hotel. Relax for the rest of the day and prepare for the upcoming trip.

Start your journey from the Yungang Grottoes. Once you enter the grottoes, you will be amazed by the artistic works such as the Buddha statues, reliefs and murals. These works showcase the superb carving techniques and rich artistic imagination of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and have had a profound impact on the development of Buddhist art in later generations. You can listen to the tour guide vividly telling the untold stories behind each Buddha statue and explore the history and culture of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

The Buddha Statue Sculptures in Yungang Grottoes

After breakfast, the driver will take you to the Hanging Monastery. This monastery is truly worth exploring in terms of its history, religion, and ancient architecture. The Hanging Monastery has a history of more than 1,500 years. The monastery is built on a cliff and is supported by a series of columns below. It has withstood the test of time for thousands of years and can be regarded as a miracle in the history of architecture. However, many people may not know that it is not those columns that truly play the crucial role, but rather the 27 thick and sturdy beams inserted into the mountain.

Hanging Monastery

Then, you will go to Fahua Temple and visit the Buddhist cultural treasure -- the Buddhist scriptures collection. In addition to the exquisite Buddhist architecture here, the most precious items are the two calligraphy works of blood-written scripture pagodas written by Master Wande, the abbot of the temple, which are the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma (Fahua Jing) and the Surangama Sutra (Lengyan Jing). In order to ensure that the color of the blood would remain lasting and not turn black, during the three years of his seclusion, the master followed a salt-free vegetarian diet. He wrote a total of fifteen blood-written scripture pagodas in regular script, with a total of 482,016 characters.

Wonderful Dharma (Fahua Jing)

After breakfast, the tour guide will lead you to the ancient city wall of Datong. The existing ancient city wall was built in 1372. There are 62 small buildings on the entire city wall, which is very magnificent. The design of the city wall fully considers the needs of military defense. There are observation towers and shooting holes to facilitate the defenders to observe and defend against enemy attacks. In recent years, with the increasing awareness of cultural heritage protection, the ancient city wall has been better protected and repaired. You can feel the strong historical atmosphere here and learn about the ancient city defense culture and the historical development of Datong.

Ancient City Wall

Next, head to Yong'an Temple, where you can explore the ancient culture and Buddhist culture reflected in the murals. Take a stroll in this quaint and tranquil temple that leads you beyond the hustle and bustle to tranquility, while seeking peace for your spirit. In the Yong'an Dharma Transmission Hall, the main wall features paintings of the Ten Great Vidyarajas. Out of compassion and mercy for sentient beings, the Buddhas will guide those who are willing to listen to their advice in a gentle way; and for those who are difficult to persuade and rebellious, they will transform into angry images and subdue them in a tough way. In this way, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas use their own wisdom to save sentient beings, and ultimately achieve perfection in merit and bring peace and auspiciousness to sentient beings.

Yong'an Dharma Transmission Hall

Board your flight or train, and take away wonderful memories of your Datong trip.