2 Days Private Datong Tour from Beijing

In the morning, you will go to Beijing North Railway Station to take the high speed train for 2 hours and 20 minutes to Datong on your own. We will book the round-trip train tickets for you in advance. You just need to collect the tickets at the train station. After arriving in Datong, the local guide will pick you up at the exit of the railway station and then escort you to your own booked hotel.

After that, we will start from Beijing from the Yungang Grottoes, which is the cultural remains of large grotto temples in the Northern Wei Dynasty (386 - 534) and also one of the four largest ancient grottoes in China. There are 45 main grottoes, 1,100 niches and 59,000 Buddhist statues. All the grottoes are carved in the mountain with a total length of 1 kilometers (0.62 miles) from east to west. Specially, Yungang Grottoes is in the style of magnificent imperial families, whose content have covered history, architecture, music and other aspects of the Buddhist cultural art. It represents the combination of Chinese and Western cultures and the supreme achievement of the Buddhist art in 5th - 6th century. Based on the shape, statue content and pattern, Yungang Grottoes can be divided into three stages. In the early period, it was of great momentum in strong and simple style and affected by the carving art of ancient India. In the middle stage, it was famous for exquisite carvings and splendid decoration which display the art style of completion, variation and magnificence in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Though the grottoes in the last stage are small, the statues are thin and pretty with moderate proportion, which were fine examples of the northern China's grottoes art. After the visit, we will transfer you back to your hotel. Wish you have enjoyed the day!

At the appointed time after breakfast, you will meet your guide at your hotel lobby. Today, we will begin with the Hanging Monastery which can be reached in 1.5 hours' drive. Hanging Monastery with a history of 1,500 years is hanging on the cliff and about 50 meters above the ground. It is a unique monastery combining Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism where you can see the sculptures of Sakyamuni, Confucius and Laotzu together. The whole monastery seems to be supported by only more than 10 wooden pillars. Actually, the crossbeams half stuck in the rock are the foundation of this architectural wonder. The monastery consists of the South Building, North Building and a bridge linked between.

In the afternoon, we will drive back to downtown and visit the Nine-Dragon Screen and the City Wall. The Nine-Dragon Screen, first constructed in 1392, is 8 meters (about 26 feet) high, 2.02 meters (6.6 feet) thick and 45.5 meters (149 feet) long. It is composed of 426 pieces of special colorful glazed bricks with nine flying dragons. The interspace are filled with mountains, stones, waters and plants. The roof is covered with glazed tiles and the base is engraved with 41 pairs of dragons frolicking with a pearl. The well-preserved Datong City Wall of the Ming Dynasty is extended on the basis of the past dynasties. Now it has four main gates and a series of military equipment like moat, drawbridge, archway, and watchtower. At the end of this Datong tour, your guide will escort you to the railway station for your train back to Beijing. The train leaves at around 18:00. Hope you have had a wonderful trip with us!