Datong
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.
Getting to Datong
- 01Datong Yungang Airport
Flights primarily from southern Chinese cities, Hong Kong, and Bangkok.
- 02Datong South Railway Station
Trips from Beijing, Hohhot, and southern Shanxi cities such as Taiyuan and Pingyao are all less than 2.5 hours, and often much faster.
- 03Datong Railway Station
Worth seeing
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.
Things to do
- 01Children's Park
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.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.