From Datong: Yungang Grottoes and Hanging Temple Day Tour｜China

Explore the Yungang Grottoes and the Hanging Temple on a private day tour from Datong. Discover the beauty of the Yungang Grottoes and see the Hanging Temple, listed on "World's Top 10 Most Dangerous Architectures" by Time Magazine.

Start your day with a pickup from your hotel in Datong. Head to the Yungang Grottoes, located at the southern foot of Wuzhou Mountain, 16 kilometers west of Datong City. The 45 caves in Yungang Grottoes include some 254 niches with about 51,000 statues.

Explore the well-preserved, representative, and simply breathtaking architectures built in different dynasties of ancient China. In March 1961, Yungang Grottoes was proclaimed as one of the first batch of Key Cultural Relics under the protection of Chinese State Council. In December 2001, Yungang Grottoes was included as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

In May 2007, Yungang Grottoes was proclaimed as a National AAAAA-grade Tourism Attraction of China. The expansion project in 2010 made Yungang Grottoes a world-famous tourist sightseeing destination with its combination of a royal ancient Buddhist cave temple, royal garden, and the complex of ancient architecture.

Next, head to the Hanging Temple, built halfway up the side of a precipitous cliff of Cuiping Peak of Hengshan Mountain. Historical records trace the origin of the Hanging Temple’s construction back 1,400 years to the later period of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), although much was reconstructed in later dynasties.

The Hanging Temple is constructed almost entirely of wood. There are more than 40 halls from big to small housing more than 80 sculptures. The Hanging Temple has established its unique position as one of China’s remarkable feats of architectural engineering due to its gravity-defying location, unique construction, and evenly distributed, well-balanced structure.

Finally, visit the ancient city walls of Datong. The ancient city wall of Datong was built in the fifth year of the Hongwu Period during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) by Xu Da, a senior general of the dynasty. In building it, he utilized old ramparts of the previous Northern Wei, Tang, Liao, and Yuan dynasties.

The Datong city wall has four sides, covering an area of 3.28 square kilometers. If you pay a visit to the city walls in the evening, you will see great differences between day and night. Lighting on the interval towers are switched on as night falls, creating a surreal and romantic scene.