Datong
Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province in the People's Republic of China.

Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province in the People's Republic of China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of 1,040 metres (3,410 ft) and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 3,105,591 of whom 1,790,452 lived in the built-up area made of the 2 out 4 urban districts of Pingcheng and Yungang as Yunzhou and Xinrong are not conurbated yet.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Datong
4 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Shanhua Temple
Shanhua Temple is a Buddhist temple located in Datong, Shanxi Province, China. The temple was first founded during the early 8th century of the Tang dynasty, but its earliest surviving building dates from the 11th century.
6.4 km · building in Datong, China · Wikipedia - 02Cathedral of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Datong
Cathedral of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Datong is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in Datong, Shanxi, China.
5.7 km · church building in Datong, China · Wikipedia - 03Huayan Temple
Huayan Temple or Huayan Monastery is a Buddhist temple located in Datong, Shanxi, China. Huayan Temple has been burned down and rebuilt several times.
6.7 km · building in Datong, China · Wikipedia - 04Grand Mosque of Datong
Grand Mosque of Datong is located at No. 19, Jiulou Lane, Qingyuan Street, Gucheng Subdistrict, Pingcheng District, Datong City, Shanxi Province.
5.9 km · mosque in Datong, Shanxi, China · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
The star attractions of Datong, namely the Yungang Grottoes and the Hanging Monastery, lie outside the city proper. At the city's center, surrounded by impressive walls, is the Datong Ancient City, which is a largely redeveloped tourist shopping area (in the redeveloped "ancient city" style common throughout touristed China) punctuated by beautiful temples and mosques.
From Wikivoyage: Datong, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
- 01Children's Park
From Wikivoyage: Datong, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
Knife-cut noodles (dāoxiāomiàn, 刀削面) are a Shanxi specialty that you can find in restaurants.
- 01Erban Datong Sliced Noodles
Delicious knife-cut noodles and friendly service.
From Wikivoyage: Datong, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Datong
- Airports
- Datong Yungang (DAT), 10 km · Hohhot Baita (HET), 155 km · Shijiazhuang Zhengding (SJW), 232 km
- Stations
- Datong railway station, 6.5 km · Datong South Railway Station, 6 km · Datong East railway station, 1.9 km · Zhoushizhuang railway station, 8.7 km
- Hohhot → Datong160 km · quickest by road, 3h 21m · ¥85–110
- Beijing → Datong265 km · quickest by road, 4h 57m · ¥135–180
- Shijiazhuang → Datong250 km · quickest by road, 5h 24m · ¥140–185
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Datong
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Datong. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- 011,170 km
- 021,662 km
- 031,802 km
- 041,878 km
- 052,010 km
If you know how people move in Datong – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Datong
- Pingcheng Districtdistrict in Shanxi Province, China8 km