| Day 6 Datong ( B,L ) |
| The highlight today is the famous Yungang Grottes. |
| Huayan Temple | The Huayan Temple is the largest and best preserved temple of the Liao Dynasty in existence in China. The Huayan Temple complex is located on Daxi Street on the south western side of Datong City, Shanxi Province. | | The Datong Nine Dragon Screen | The Datong Nine Dragon Screen, built over 600 years ago, is presently the oldest and largest glazed screen in China today. The Nine-Dragon Screen is localted in the downtown of Datong. | | Yungang Grottoes | Yungang Grottoes, one of the three major cave clusters in China, punctuate the north cliff of Wuzhou Mountain, Datong. The area was excavated along the mountain, extending 1 km (0.62 miles) from east to west, revealing 53 caves and over 51,000 stone statues. |
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| [ Optional ] Datong: Datong is situated in northern Shanxi Province. It was the political, economic and military center of ancient North China. With a history of over 2400 years, Datong was the capital of Northern Wei (386~534) for 96 years, and the 'support capital' of Liao (916~1125) and Jin (1115~1234). |
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| Day 7 Datong, Wutaishan ( B,L ) |
| Today we will be transferred to the Wutai Mountain. On the way visit the Hanging Temple and the Wooden Pagoda at Yingxian Country. It is about 280 KM. |
| Hanging Temple | Hanging Temple stands at the foot of Mt. Hengshan, 5 kilometers (3 miles) south of Hunyuan County, and 65 kilometers (40 miles) from downtown Datong City. | | Wooden Pagoda in Yingxian | Located in Yingxian County, and about 70 kilometers south of Datong, the Wooden Pagoda is the oldest and highest wooden structure in China. It is regarded as the 'First Pagoda in the World' and a gem in the architectural field. It has now also been placed under national emphases under the Cultural R…… |
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| [ Optional ] Datong food: Datong is mainly famous for its various wheaten food. Local people put wheat, pea, buckwheat, soybean sprout, tofu and peanut into boiling cooking pot, add vinegar together, and this type of noodle soup will be their main dish, 3 times everyday. People never get tire of foods made of noodle, and I was told that there are more than 100 kind of different noodle soups, with dozens of different seasoning. |
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| Day 8 Wutaishan, Taiyuan ( B,L ) |
| Visit a cluster of temples at Wutai Mountain, known as China's most sacred Buddhist Mountian and the area's biggest attractions are the numerous Buddhist temples. After our visiting, we will transferred to Tiayuan City, the journey is about 300 KM. Upon your arrival, drive to the hotel in Taiyuan. |
| Mountain Wutai | The sacred mountain Wutaishan is believed to be the earthly abode of the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, Manjushri, and for a thousand years it has been a focus of transnational pilgrimage for the Chinese, Tibetans, Mongols, and Manchus alike. |
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| [ Optional ] Wutaishan: |
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| Day 9 Pingyao ( B,L ) |
| Drive 3 hours to Pingyao, on the way, visit three attractions, they are all well-known in China, but not so famous to the outside world. Tonight we will stay in a small ancient town of Pingyao. |
| Shuanglin Temple | The Shuanglin Temple: Standing for more than 1500 years, the temple is famous for more than 2,000 painted sculptures of precious value, representing Ming and Qing Dynasties' best. They are reputed as a "treasure reserve of the oriental painted sculptures". | | Chang Family Mansion | It is a representative Shanxi merchant residence. Construction of the Chang family mansion began in the late Ming Dynasty. In 1770, during Qing Emperor Qianlong's reign, large-scale construction was carried out. |
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| [ Optional ] Food in Pingyao: You can only find toursit menus at the tour part of Pingyao, and the service is quite poor. Recommend you to walk 30 minutes to the local part of the town, where local Chinese people have their meals here. Bingo! So many choices! WanTuoZhi and KaoLaoLao is the names of two most famous meals in Pingyao, served with a cup of hot soybean milk. |
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| Day 10 Pingyao ( B,L ) |
| Have a whole day tour to witness the historical old town - Pingyao. Free time in Pingyao before transferred to Pingyao railway station to catch the overnight train (soft sleeper class, 4 berths in one compartment) to Xian. Stay overnight on the train. |
| Pingyao ancient town | Pingyao is the middle of Shanxi Province, it is the best-preserved among the four ancient towns in China. It is the assembly place of folk houses in north China where rows upon rows of buildings in the Ming and Qing Dynasties stand in well-preserved conditions. | | Pingyao City Wall | The original city walls of Pingyao were of tamped earth and were located northwest of the present Pingyao city, originally named Pingtao, was built in the early Northern Wei Dynasty. | | Rishengchang Draft Bank | The first draft bank of China, Rishengchang, is situated in the busiest section of Xi Da Jie, which used to be the First Street in the Qing Dynasty. Although it was only a small compound, it was a forerunner of modern banking and once manipulated the economic lifelines of the whole Qing Dynasty in t…… |
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| [ Optional ] Train 2669 Taiyuan to Xian: The train runs from Taiyuan to Xian. Train No.: 2669. It leaves Taiyuan at 21h50, arrives Pingyao at 23h11, leaves Pingyao at 23h14, arrives Xian at 07h46 next day. The train has soft class with 4-berth ordinary soft class sleepers, 6-berth hard class sleepers and hard seats, public toilet (please prepare toilet tissue by yourself), restaurant car available. |
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