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Mount Wutai Trip

Friday, June 15th, 2012

 

On 7th, June, 2012, we start our annual company outing  from Beijing Railway Station on an overnight train for our this year’s destination - Mount Wutai. 

As one of Chinese 4 well-known Buddhist mountains, Mountain Wutai has served as a Buddhist pilgrimage site for almost 2,000 years. Located at an altitude of about 9,000 feet, it is surrounded by five peaks up to 11,000 feet high. There are dozens of temples in the town itself and dozens more on the surrounding peaks. Mountain Wutai is home to 53 sacred monasteries, and they were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009.  

The major sights at Wutaishan are rather spread out, forcing one to indulge in the gorgeous scenery that surrounds the five terraces. I have snapped some pictures of Mountain Wutai.

 

This is the entry ticket, RMB168 for each person.

 

The ticket is for the touring bus inside Mt. Wutai, RMB 50 for each

 

This is the hop on hop off bus station within Mount Wuwai Scenic Spot

 

This is the route map of the touring bus.

 
Looking down from Pusa Ding towards the immense 160 feet high Tayuan Si Pagoda which dominates the center of town.

Looking down from Pusa Ding towards the immense 160 feet high Tayuan Si Pagoda

 

The top of the Tayuan Si Pagoda,

 

Another temple is nestled on a top cirecled by trees

 

Walking in a maze of temples.

 

Blue sky, white clouds and the temple eaves

 

A huge incense burner in temple

 
For lunch, we enjoy vegetarian dishes with most of them looking like pork, duck, fish etc. and taste delicious.

We enjoy vegetarian dishes for lunch.

 
After the lunch, we climb Daluo Ding. It is said that it will take a long time to finish climbing the five peaks, so if you do not have the enough time, you can clmb Daluo Ding instead. And you can take a overlook of all the temples.

A bird’s eye view of those temples.

 
We Checked in Huahui Shazhuang (Flower Villa) at evening, a 4-star hotel at the foot of Mountain Wutai. the famous Buddhism tourist resort. It is 4km away from the Wutai Mountain and 30km away from the Wutai Railway Station.

The outlook of Huahui Shanzhuang Hotel

 

One corner of the lobby.

 
The standard room is equipped with air-conditions, color TV, Coffee/tea maker, telephone, Internet access, electronic lock and in-room safe.

A double room

 
The bath room is clean and equipped with bath and shower and hair dryer. After one-day climbing, you could take a bath comfortable

The washing room attached

 
Tips: The weather of Mountain Wutai is cool and changeful, so you’d better take warm clothes and a umbrella.

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Where to stay in Datong

Thursday, June 7th, 2012

 

Plan your Datong Tour? If you are in the process of hotel booking on your short trip to Datong, a basic idea of Datong city layout is essential in finding a perfect place to stay in Datong. Of course, your final decision of for Datong hotel booking also depends on your budget and personal taste.
 
If you look at a map of Datong, the map will show you a clear outline of a city wall in the center of Datong City, which is the city’s old core. Much of the city wall and the old town were damaged or pulled down in the past hundred years. The city wall was built in 1372 in Ming Dynasty based on the earth city wall left by the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534). The Datong City Wall was said to be 2 meters higher than those in Xian and 6.6 meters wide than those in Nanjing.
 
A great renovation program of its old town is underway with part of its eastern and sourthern walls restored. The drum tower is the center of the old town reaching out four major streets – north, south, east and west. Buildings are being built to restore the quaint yet old quarter.
 
The city of Datong isn’t big on attractions which are all located within the old town including Nine Dragon Screen, Upper Huayan Temple, Lower Huanyan Temple, Shanhua Temple and City Wall itself. The fact is that it makes no big difference as where to stay in Datong since Datong is a walkable city. The Hanging Temple is located 65km southeast of Datong city; Yingxian Wooden Pagoda 55km to the west of Hanging Temple and Yungang Caves 16km west of downtown Datong.
 
Basically you have five areas to choose for your Datong hotel booking – Datong Railway Station Area (north of Datong city core), inside the old town (within the city wall), east of the city wall, south of the city wall and west of the city wall
 
Hotels around Datong Railway Station (north of the city wall):
Tongtie Hotel （同铁宾馆）: 5 Zhanbei Jie, Datong Tel：0352-5559222
Feitian Hotel （飞天宾馆）: 1 Zhanqian Jie, datong
Hongqi Grand Hotel: No.11 Zhanqian Street, North of Train Station Square, Datong
88 Phoenix Court: No.88 Wuding North Road, datong
Jiahe International Inn: 1 Zhanqian Street, Datong
 
 
Hotels inside the city wall
Garden Hotel: No.59 Danan Street, Datong
Datong Yun Gang International Hotel: Address: No.38 Da Xi Street, Datong
Xinsanhuan Jiulong Hotel: No.1 Dadong Street, Downtown, Datong
Datong Youth Hostel: 2 Huanyan Jie, Downtown, Datong
 
Hotels east of the city wall
Howard Jonhson Jindi Plaza Datong: No.88 Pingcheng Street, Datong
Yanbei Hotel: No.1A Yuhe West Road, Datong
Guobin Hotel: No.898 Yuhe West Road, Datong
 
Hotels south of the city wall
Holiday Inn Datong City Center: No.37 Yingbin Street, Cheng District, Datong
Datong Hotel:
Yungang Jianguo Hotel: No.21 Yingbin East Road, Shi District, Datong
Jinjiang Inn (Datong Pingchengqiao): Building 1 Longyuan Community, Pingcheng Street, Datong
Home Inn (Datong Yingbin Road): No.51 Yingbin West Street, Xinrong District, Datong
Continental Hotel: No.88 Binxi Street, Yingbin West Road, Cheng District, Datong
Datong Hotel: No.37 Yingbin West Road, Datong
Chenguang International Hotel: Yingbin East Street 68, Datong
 
Hotels west of the city wall
Haohai International Hotel: No.46 Xinjian South Road, Datong
Datong Tiangui International Hotel: 133 Yunzhong Road, Datong
Great Palace Hotel: No.452 Weidu Avenue, Datong
Hotel Red Flag Square: Weidu Avenue, Datong
Huamei Hotel: Building #1,Fulinbaocheng,Yunboli, Weidu Avenue, datong
 
Any questions, just drop a line.

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How to visit Datong in one Day？

Sunday, June 19th, 2011

 

Hanging Temple

Planning your Datong Tour? If you have only one full day in Datong and you would like to feel, touch and see the essential Datong, the one-day itinerary in Datong below is my suggested example to plan your own memorable Datong one-day Tour.  

Bus Tour : Mt. Hengshan, Hanging Temple, Yungang Grottoes
 
Mt. Hengshan
Get up early and have a fast breakfast, and board a local bus tour to Mr. Hengshan. Mt. Hengshan is located in Hunyuan County of Shanxi Province. You can get there around 8 am.
Mt. Hengshan is the Northern Mountain of the “Five Sacred Mountains”. Boasting 108 peaks and spanning 150 kilometers, it has an average elevation of 2,017 meters. Mt. Hengshan is famous for steepy ridges, splendid peaks, exotic-shaped temples, and gushing fountains, together with oddly-shaped stones and forests of ancient trees, which constitutes a beautiful landscape.
 
Hanging Monastery
Hanging Monastery stands at the foot of Mt. Hengshan. So when you arrive in Mt. Hengshan, you just arrive in Hanging Temple. According to the History of Hengshan Mountain, the Hanging Temple was first built at the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
The Hanging Temple was designed skillfully and constructed audaciously. The method is to chisel a horizontal hole in the cliff, and then put a beam through the hole out of the cliff, at last put board and pillars on the beam to build various beam frames and roofs.
There are all sorts of inscriptions, poems and another 78 statues of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism made of copper, iron, clay and stone, which are valuable cultural craftworks.
 
Datong Yungang Grottoes
Yungang Grottoes is the main reason that people make a trip to Datong. After lunch at noon, you should move on to Yungang Grottoes. Yungang Grottoes is located at the southern foot of Wuzhou Mountain some 16 km west of Datong City.
Yungang Grottoes were built against the mountain and extend about 1 km from east to west. The construction of the caves was started under the auspices of the noted monk Tan Yao in 453 and took 50 years to complete. The Yungang Grottoes are divided into three zones: east, west and central and numbered from east to west.
 
If you are planning a one-day private tour to Datong, you can arrange your own time well and visit one more attraction – Yingxian Wooden Pagoda.
 
Yingxian Wooden Tower
The Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, also called Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple, is located in the Fogong Temple, Yingxian County, Shanxi Province. It is regarded as one of the “Three Pagodas in the World”.
Built in 1056, this wooden pagoda has a history of over 1000 years. It is built on a four-meter-high groundwork with a total height of 67.31 meters, and a diameter of 30.27 meters at its bottom. The tower adopts the structure of secluded chambers in design, presenting a distinctive national characteristic inherited from the Han and Tang Dynasties while leveraging the traditional architectural techniques to the fullest extent.
 
Enjoy your one-day Tour in Datong!
 
 
Datong tours starting from Beijing
Datong 3 Day Rail Tour from Beijing
Beijing Datong 2 Day Round Trip by private car or van
Beijing Datong 4 Day Round Trip by Daytime Train

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