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Datong Travel Guide

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Location: in the norht of Shanxi Province

Population: 3,180,000

Area: 14,176 square kilometers

Nationalities: Han, Mongolia, Manchu,



History: During its long history, China has had many capitals. More than 1,500 years ago, Datong was the honored city. Its border location in the northern part of Shanxi Province, a notch south of Inner Mongolia, made it a convenient meeting place for many nationalities to exchange goods and ideas.
In the first century, Buddhism made its way from India to China, where it flourished. It became the state religion during the Northern Wei Dynasty, and in 460 A.D. work began on a temple/monastery complex to sanctify the Buddha, The Enlightened One. For the next three decades, monks and slaves labored alongside each other with simple hand tools. Together they honeycombed the sandstone mountain and filled countless niches with carvings that illustrate the philosophical concept of the “thousand Buddhas,” symbolizing the Buddha’s omnipresence through time and space.

Climate: Situated at the northeastern edge of the Loess Plateau (Huangtu gaoyuan), Datong has a continental monsoon climate with four distinctive four seasons. The average annual temperature is about 6.8 degrees Celsius, with sharp temperature difference between day and night. The temperatures considerably throughout the year, with a high of 38 degrees Celsius in the summer months of July and August, and a low of around -25 in January and February.

Local Specialties: Cupreous Chaffy Dish, Wool Carpet, Yungang Juanren, Colored Glaze

Local Food: Rabbit head, Guangling Toufu Curd, Yellow Cake, Buckwheat Getuo, Datong Hotpot, Pea Noodles, Sheep chop suey—vermicelli soup, Datong Bean Noodles, Yingzhou Cattle Waist

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