The China Diaries: Day Eleven

I was up early and had a hot coffee in the room. I went out for breakfast at 7:30AM. It was a simple buffet breakfast. I had some watermelon and two hard-boiled eggs. I made some toast with jam and packed it up for a snack later. My driver showed up at 8:00AM and away we went. He said our first stop would be the Xuankongsi Temple (懸空寺) or the Hanging Temple. Entry fee: 115RMB.

The Xuankong temple is a hanging temple from the 5^th century that is built into the side of a cliff 75 meters above the ground. The reason I came to Datong was to see the Yungang Grottoes but I had a look around the immediate area and came across this hanging temple. I knew it was something I wanted to see.

We arrived at the temple around 9:15AM. I bought my ticket and set out to go inside. And guess what?! There was a huge line. Surprise, surprise! I waited in line for about 1.5 hours before finally getting into the temple. As with most things in China, there were way too many people for me to enjoy it properly. 

The Xuankong Temple (Hanging Temple)

There were long narrow passageways that brought you from room to room. Those passageways had very low railings. If you looked over the side, the drop went straight down. You wouldn’t want to get accidentally bumped in there. I spent a half hour in the temple before exiting. There was a loud microphone asking you not to take pictures, which everyone seemed to be ignoring, and it was also asking you not to stay inside the temple for more than a half hour so that others could go in. So, a 1.5-hour wait for thirty minutes of enjoyment. Was it worth? Absolutely!

When I got back down to the entrance it was already noon. The sightseeing pamphlet I had suggested that it would take four hours to go through the Yungang Grottoes and Google Maps said it was a 1.5 hour drive to get there. The Yungang Grottoes closed at 5:30PM. 

I was at the base of Mount Heng and the original plan was to see all three places. My pamphlet suggested that it would take about three hours to tour Mount Heng. There was a cable car up but I was afraid of another long wait. I told the driver I wanted to skip Mount Heng and go straight to the Grottoes, as that was the whole reason I came to Datong. He told me the price would be the same, which I agreed to and away we went.

It took us almost two hours to get to the Yungang Grottoes. On the way there, I feared tickets being sold out for the day and I found myself making a plan B in my head so as not to be disappointed. I was also using google to see if in fact tickets did sell out. I couldn’t seem to find anything that said yes, so that was a good sign.

We got to the Grottoes around 2:00PM. There were very few people in line and I was able to get a ticket! Stoked! Entry fee: 120RMB. I quickly made my way in and was hardly able to contain my excitement. 

One of the big Buddha caves was under construction, which was a bit of a disappointment but the other caves I got to see were fantastic. No pictures were allowed inside and there were strict guards there to make sure people were following the rules. 

What I liked about this place compared to the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang was that you didn’t need to have a guide. But it was also what I didn’t like. In Dunhuang, you needed to be with a guide at all times. The caves were locked and the guides decided which ones to take you in and had to unlock the doors. So once you saw them once, you were done. But you did get a great explanation in each cave as to the history, what was original, what wasn’t and what special things you should notice.

One of the statues in the caves

Whereas the caves at the Yungang Grottoes, you could come and go as you please and stay as long as you’d like to admire them. They were very impressive and at one point I thought they may have even been better than the ones in Dunhuang but, they weren't The ones in Dunhuang were very special. I think what I liked was not having to continually listen to someone telling me what to look at.

As I was making my way out of the Grottoes, I decided to revisit each one. It was getting late in the day and there were tons of tour groups at this time, which made it hard to enjoy them the second time around. What I do like about the tour groups is that the guide has a small microphone and each person in the group has a set of headphones that are connected to the guide's device so they can speak quietly without bothering those who aren’t on the tour. However, when you get groups of thirty people at a time in those tiny caves, it can get crowded.

At the end of my time at the Grottoes, it was threatening rain. The wind picked up and dark clouds were quickly moving overhead. I decided to head back to the taxi and make my way back to the hotel. It was about a half an hour to get back and I was quite hungry. 

It started raining on the way back but once I reached the hotel the rain had stopped. I grabbed a quick shower and then headed to a restaurant around the corner for some food. I had a beer, some beef noodles and some pickled cucumbers that were in a spicy sauce. They were delicious.

I went back to the same store, grabbed a beer and some chips and went back to my room for the evening. I had very little service in my room, which was quite annoying. At some point, I ended up taking my computer outside to try and connect my phone to my computer. I wasn’t having much luck. I gave up after a short time and went back to my room to watch some TV. I went to bed early with thoughts of getting up early to watch the sunrise.