Yungang Grottoes

Note: If you choose the option with the high-speed train from Beijing, your Beijing driver will pick you up from your hotel, and then transfer you to Beijing railway station for a 2-hour high-speed train to Datong (second class). Upon arrival, a private Datong guide will pick you up on time and start your Datong tour. In the morning at 8:30 am, meet your guide and driver who will hold a board with your name in your Datong downtown hotel lobby. Firstly, we drive westwards to Yungang Grottoes. As the first batch of key cultural relics under state protection, also on the world heritage list, Yuagang Grottoes has a highly cultural and artistic meaning. It not only shows the traditional Chinese artistic style, but also incorporates the art characteristics of ancient India, the western regions and the Central Plain. Yungang Grottoes is the beginning of the "sinicization" of Chinese grotto art, which mainly stores 45 grottoes and 51,000 stone statues.

Hengshan Hanging Temple (Xuankong si)

After lunch (not included), you will be transferred to Hanging Temple. Located between the cliffs of Mt. Hengshan, it is the only unique temple in China that integrates Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. The whole monastery is built in wooden framework structure. Though not very big, it astonishes people by the building design that relies on a mortise joint and embeds into the cliff without falling down. Owning a history over 1,500 years, many notable literati and poets have left words to show their amazing feeling. When finishing all sites, you will be transferred back to your Datong downtown hotel. If you choose the option with the bullet train to Beijing, you will be escorted to Datong train station for a high-speed train back to Beijing. Upon arrival, a Beijing local driver will pick you up and transfer you back to your hotel in Beijing. (During peak season, in order to catch up with your high-speed train back to Beijing, we will not visit the Hanging Temple.)