Overview:
Visit two top attractions of Datong — Hanging Temple and the UNESCO-listed Yungang Grottoes — on a privately guided day trip. Your personalized itinerary provides time to explore one of China’s largest grottoes as well as the 5th-century temple built into Hengshan mountain cliff. Lunch and round-trip minivan transport are included.
Meals: Not Included
Attractions: Yungang Grottoes, Hengshan Hanging Temple (Xuankong si)
Meet your personal guide and driver upon pickup from your centrally located hotel. You’ll depart in the morning for Hanging Temple, about a 1.5-hour drive from Datong. Founded during the Northern Wei period and constructed into the side of Hengshan mountain, Hanging Monastery is the only one of its kind that honors Sakyamuni, Laozi, and Confucius — founders of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, respectively. After exploring the architectural complex with your guide, it’s time for a restaurant lunch featuring traditional Chinese cuisine. Then proceed to the Yungang Grottoes, listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. Inside the ancient grottoes, you’ll find some 51,000 stone Buddhist statues dating to the 5th and 6th centuries. Learn about the significance of this cave art before your private tour ends with return transport to your hotel.
Hengshan Hanging Temple (Xuankong si)
After pickup from your hotel in Datong at 8:30 am, you will be transferred to the Hengshan Hanging Temple, also called the Hanging Monastery (approx. 1.5 hours). The Hanging Monastery is one of China’s most unique and remarkable feats of wooden architecture. The monastery is also the only one built in honor of Sakyamuni, Laozi, and Confucius, who are founders of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, respectively. The monastery was founded during the Northern Wei period (386-584 ad), boasting a history of over 1,400 years. An architectural complex was built on the base of the natural hollows and outcrops along the contour of the cliff.
Yungang Grottoes
Enjoy a traditional Chinese cuisine unch at a local restaurant and then proceed to the Yungang Grottoes. In 2001, the site was listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site. There are 53 grottoes remaining in Yungang with 45 major caves and more than 51,000 stone statues. The Yungang Grottoes are one of China’s largest ancient grottoes, alongside the Dunhuang Mogao grottoes, the Longmen Grottoes and the Tianshui Maiji Mountain Grottoes, which are called China’s four big grottoes. When the tour ends, you will be transferred back to your hotel.
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