Experience the best of Datong

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.

Some 16 km west of the city, the Yungang Grottoes, a World Heritage site, hold more than 200 caves cut into a sandstone cliff, with around 50,000 Buddhist figures carved in the fifth century and after. The Hanging Monastery, a temple built into a cliff face on Mount Heng, lies to the south-east, and the 67-metre Yingxian wooden pagoda, built in the eleventh century, is among the oldest surviving wooden towers in China.

Daoxiao noodles, long strips shaved from a block of dough straight into boiling water, are the city's most famous bowl, served with braised mutton and local vinegar. Oat noodles and steamed buns are common too. Winters are long and bitterly cold, so May to October is the comfortable season.