Things to do in Datong
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Datong
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Late April to early June is a best window, warm days and manageable crowds outside the early May holiday.
Mid September to late October is the other best window, with the best light, until Golden Week crowds arrive.
Summer is hot and rainy by northern standards and domestically busy, but the mountains are greenest.
Winter is cold, dry and serious, with empty caves, low prices and the lantern festival as compensation.
Golden Week from 1 to 7 October is the worst crowd window of the year at Yungang and the Hanging Temple.
What's on
- Datong Ancient City Lantern Festival January to February, Lunar New Year to the Lantern Festival
Lantern groups on the south wall, folk parades, Jin opera and heritage performances across the ancient city.
- Mid-Autumn wall evenings September to October, around the Mid-Autumn Festival
Lantern lit wall evenings and harvest menus in the best light of the year, before Golden Week begins.
Best things to do in Datong
Yungang Grottoes
Northern Wei cave temples with over 51,000 statues, where Caves 5, 6 and 20 alone justify the trip from Beijing.
Huayan Temple
Datong's best in town temple, with a Jin dynasty hall and a Liao sutra repository holding famous painted sculptures.
Shanhua Temple
The largest best preserved Liao founded temple complex in China, quiet enough to have courtyards to yourself.
Nine Dragon Screen
China's oldest and largest nine dragon wall, nine glazed tile dragons from 1392 in a brilliant fifteen minutes.
Datong Museum
The Northern Wei capital story told in Xianbei jewellery, Persian coins and tomb art, and the key to Yungang.
Southeast Yi
The rebuilt old town quarter where Datong's evening life, teahouses and lantern festival energy concentrate.
Jinhua Palace National Mine Park
A preserved colliery where you kit up and go underground, telling the coal story behind modern Datong.
Fahua Temple
A compact temple with a white pagoda, a calm ten minute pause and landmark in the old town grid.
Where to stay in Datong
Inside the Ancient City Wall
first trip, walkable sights and eating
Walk to Huayan, Shanhua, the Nine Dragon Screen and the wall, and eat without a taxi.
Yudong, east of the Yu River
big modern rooms, parking and the museum
Newer towers and the city's largest hotels by Datong Museum, a short drive from the old town.
Near Datong South Station
very early trains only
Useful for a dawn departure south, with nothing to walk to for a full stay.
Think twice about
- Datong South Station area
A sprawling station district about 8 km from the centre with nothing to walk to. Use it for trains, sleep in the old city.
- Yungang Grottoes area
Isolated by the scenic area with few dinners and no evening life. Visit early, sleep in the old city.
- Western mining districts
Industrial coal districts with no visitor life. Pass through to the mine park, do not base there.
Best restaurants in Datong
Fenglin Ge Restaurant
Datong's flagship restaurant for flowered shaomai, oat noodles and a full Shanxi banquet table to share.
Kaige Restaurant
The locals' banquet table for a fuller Shanxi spread, braised pork, chicken dishes and oat noodles to share.
Zini 369 Culiang Ji
A tasting room for Shanxi coarse grains, oats, millet and buckwheat turned into noodles, rolls and dumplings.
Dongfang Xiaomian
The knife cut noodle institution, springy shaved noodles in meat broth with vinegar and garlic on the table.
Sun Ji BaoZiPu
A beloved basic steamed bun shop where a Datong breakfast is a fresh tray of baozi for almost no money.
Long Ju Xiang Shumai
The specialist everyday shaomai shop at Gulou, thin skins and generous mutton filling with flower folded tops.
Sliced Noodles Of Mr Ren's
A classic knife cut noodle shop open from 6:30am, the early bowl drivers and shift workers start on.
Hongya Restaurant
A Northern Wei styled dining room built around Pingcheng roast chicken, crisp outside and tender inside.
Outdoor things to do in Datong
Xuankong Temple
A temple clinging to a cliff on wooden beams for 1,500 years, worth it once at opening with a ticket secured.
Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple
The world's oldest and tallest all wooden pagoda, built in 1056 without a single iron nail in its frame.
Mount Heng
The northern sacred mountain, a stepped Taoist temple hike to a 2,017 metre summit ridge above Hunyuan.
Datong Ancient City Wall
Ride the 7.2 km rebuilt wall circuit by bike at sunset, the best active hour inside the city.
Datong Volcanic Group
Walk the boardwalk around Langwoshan, a huge extinct crater in North China's only volcanic cluster.
Datong Earth Forest
A labyrinth of loess pillars that turns gold to rust red in low sun, best early or late in the day.
Private Driver Grand Day Tour
A private car day doing the Hanging Temple first, then Yingxian, buying time, certainty and a ticket strategy.
Best hotels in Datong
Four Points by Sheraton Datong Pingcheng
The most credible top tier international hotel in the old city area, with large rooms and a real breakfast.
Yungang Jianguo Hotel
The big domestic five star flagship in Yudong, full service and deeply reviewed, a short taxi from the old town.
Garden Hotel
The mid range workhorse in the old city, well reviewed for breakfast and location at a fair price.
Mehood Hotel
A modern boutique chain stay whose main asset is the address, steps from Huayan Temple and the shaomai streets.
Pipa Old Inn
A courtyard inn with helpful hosts who arrange drivers for the temple loop, and breakfasts guests praise.
Datong Hotel
The old state run stalwart, slightly faded rooms but gardens and a restaurant guests eat in every night.
Is Datong expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CN¥350 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CN¥700 a person |
| Splurge | CN¥1,500 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Yungang Grottoes: a few days ahead
- Jinhua Palace National Mine Park: a few days ahead
- Xuankong Temple: weeks ahead
- Private Driver Grand Day Tour: a few days ahead
- Hanging Temple climbing tickets sell out days ahead even in low season, so secure yours first.
- Beijing route trains sell out on Friday and Sunday peaks and all holiday weekends.
- Yungang needs real name advance booking on weekends and holidays, with passport in hand.
Is Datong safe?
- At the Hanging Temple, railings are low and walkways narrow, so skip the climb with vertigo or small children.
- Winter ice on old town stone and temple steps is a real slip hazard from December to February.
- Check air quality the week you travel and pack a good mask if sensitive, as winter and dust days can spike.
Datong travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Replica old town streets sold as Ming dynasty antiquity, and premium prices for a 2012 courtyard building.
- Arriving at the Hanging Temple at midday without a climbing ticket, then queuing to see only the outside.
- Unofficial guides and drivers at stations and site gates. Use hotel arranged drivers with the price in writing.
- Bundling Datong and Pingyao into two frantic days. Each deserves two nights.
Getting around Datong: public transport and more
- Beijing North or Qinghe to Datong South takes about 1h40 to 2h40 by high speed train, with dozens of departures daily.
- Datong South station is about 8 km south of the old town, roughly 30 minutes by taxi.
- The old town is flat and walkable, and taxis or DiDi are the sensible way to Yungang in about 40 minutes.
- Hire a car and driver through your hotel for the Hanging Temple, Yingxian and Hengshan southern loop.
Who Datong suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Datong your trip
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