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Datong Classic Day Tour

4.913 reviewsYungang Grottoes (Yungang Shiku)

  • 7–8 hours
  • Free cancellation up to 24h before
  • 2 languages
  • Private tour

Highlights

This full-day tour will take you to some of the most famous attractions in Datong - Yungang Grottos and Hanging Temple. Yungang Grottos as the UNESCO World Culture Heritage have 254 grottos and 51,000 stone sculptures representing the highest level of world carving art in the fifth century. The Hanging Temple was first built 1400 years ago and is unique for its architecture as well as integrating Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism.

Inclusions

What's included

  • Yungang Grottoes Entry Ticket
  • Hanging Temple Entry Ticket (no climbing ticket)
  • Want to climb the Hanging Temple? Contact me—I know how to successfully book the climbing ticket.
  • Gas, toll & parking lot fees
  • Hotel or Railway Station pickup and drop-off in Datong
  • Local English speaking tour guide service
  • Air-conditioned and clean vehicle

What's not

  • Meals
  • Tips to the tour guide and driver
  • Accommodation
  • Climbing Ticket of Hanging Temple

Itinerary

  1. Hanging Temple is build halfway up the side of a precipitous cliff of Cuiping Peak of Hengshan Mountain. Historical records trace the construction of the origin of the Hanging Temple back 1,400 years to the later period of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), although much was reconstructed in the later Dynasties. Hanging Temple is constructed almost entirely of wood. There are more than 40 halls from big to small housing more than 80 sculptures. Hanging Temple has established its unique position as China’s unique and remarkable feats of architectural engineering with its characteristics of gravity-defying location, unique construction, evenly distributed and well-balanced structure.

    2.5 hAdmission included

  2. The 45 caves in Yungang Grottoes include some 254 niches with about 51,000 statues. Yugang Grottoes constitute a classical masterpiece of the first peak of Chinese Buddhist art. In December 2001, Yungang Grottoes was included as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The expansion project in 2010 made Yungang Grottoes a world famous tourist sightseeing destination with its combination of a royal ancient Buddhist cave temple, royal garden and the complex of ancient architecture. Yungang Grottoes, with their complexity, their rich variety and vigorous features constitute a classical masterpiece as one of the three most famous Buddhist cave temples in China. The Yungang cave art represents the successful fusion of Buddhist religions symbolic art from the Buddhist Art of Gandhara (a style of Buddhist visual art that developed in what is now northwestern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan between 1st century BC and the 7th century CE.)

    2.5 hAdmission included

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

4.9

  • 512
  • 41
  • 30
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  • 10

Ratings come from 13 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Know before you go

Pickup
Pickup is included for everyone.
Ticket type
Mobile or paper ticket accepted
Operated by
Local Tour
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels
  • Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required

How it compares in Datong

  • Its from-price is 19% below the median of the 69 experiences we list in Datong.
  • Its length is typical for the group.
  • By number of reviews it ranks 3 of 69.
  • The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Datong

Datong is an old coal-mining city in northern Shanxi, with a rebuilt Ming wall and the Yungang Grottoes and Hanging Monastery within reach.

Datong stands on a high plateau in northern Shanxi province, about 1,000 metres above sea level, not far from the Great Wall and the Inner Mongolian border. As Pingcheng it was the capital of the Northern Wei dynasty in the fifth century, and its Buddhist heritage dates from then. The Ming city walls have been rebuilt around the centre, and the Nine-Dragon Wall, a glazed-tile screen from 1392, is one of the largest of its kind.

Top-ranked sights in Datong: Yungang Grottoes (Yungang Shiku), Hanging Temple (Xuankong Si).

See all 69 experiences in Datong

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