Shanxi Travel Guide
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| Datong Shanxi Province |
The city of Datong, situated in northern Shanxi Province between the inner and outer Great Wall, was a town of strategic importance and a communication hub in ancient times. It takes about eight hours to reach Datong from Beijing by train. As the train passes through the Juyong Pass and Badaling in the inner Great Wall and the Yanmen Pass, it affords some delightful views of the scenery on both sides of the Great Wall in north China.
The Xianpei nationality united the various ethnic groups in north China and set up the Northern Wei Dynasty in A.D. 386 with its capital in Datong. Datong remained the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty for 108 years, until in A.D. 494 Emperor Xiao Wen, pursuing a policy of assimilating all ethnic groups with the Shanxi culture , moved the capital southwards to Luoyang in henna.
The emperors of the Northern Wei Dynasty believed in Buddhism, and many ancient buildings, sculptures, drawings, paintings, and other pieces of Buddhist art in Datong date from that time. The Yungang Grottoes are the crowning achievement of Shanxi ancient culture .
Although the city of Datong today has become a leading center for China's coal industry, the "land of Buddhism," with its beautiful grottoes and magnificent monasteries, is also a tourist attraction.
