Datong
 Datong
and around Don't be put off by first impressions
of contemporary DATONG, the second largest
city in Shanxi Province, situated in the
far north, near the border with Inner Mongolia.
Amid the blasted landscape of modern industrial
China-coalmines, power stations and a huge
locomotive factory--are some marvellous
ancient sites, remnants of the city's glory
days as the capital city of two non-Han
Chinese dynasties. The Turkic Toba people
took advantage of the internal strife afflicting
central and southern China to establish
their own dynasty, the Northern Wei(386-534),
taking Datong as their capital in 398 AD,
by which time they had conquered the whole
of the north. Though the period was one
of strife and warfare, and the Wei never
fully consolidated their hold on power,the
Northern Wei, who became fervent Buddhists,
made some notable cultural achievements,
the finest of which was a magnificent series
of cave temples at Yungang, just west of
the city, still one of the most impressive
sights in northern China. Over the course
of almost a century, more than fifty caves
were completed, containing over fifty thousand
statues, before the capital was moved south
to Luoyang, where contruction began on the
similar Longmen Caves.  A
second period of greatness came with the
arrival of the Mongol Liao dynasty, also
Buddhists, who made Datong their capital
in 907. They were assimilated into the Jin
in 1125, but not before leaving a small
legacy of statuary and some fine temple
architecture, notably in the Huayan and
Shanhua temples in town, and a wooden pagoda,
the oldest in China, in the nearby town
of Yingxian. Datong remained important to
later Chinese dynasties for its strategic
position just inside the Great Wall, south
of Inner Mongolia, and the tall city walls
date from the early Ming dynasty. Though
most visitors today are attracted by the
Buddhist sites, Datong is also the closest
city to Heng Shan, one of the five holy
mountains of Taoism, whose most spectacular
building, the almost unbelievable Hanging
Temple, is firmly on the tour agenda.
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