Tag Archives: Datong

Review of Wooden Pagoda, Hanging Temple, Heng Shan mountain

Posted on by
Reply

So my second day in Datong started with a pre negotiated price of 500 Yuan for a taxi to take us to the wooden pagoda, Hanging Temple and Heng Shan then back to the hotel. A private tour guide will cost roughly 1000 Yuan and a price chart in the hotel lobby advertised this trip to be 750 Yuan. So I think we did alright. This price included the tolls but not parking fee up on Heng Shan and didn’t include lunch. As usual, the driver waited in the parking area.

We had arranged for this driver the day before and had gotten used to way of driving. This day though, he took us through corn fields and back roads when the “main” road was closed. At one point we had to get out of the car in order for the car to make it over a bump! It’s amazing how he managed to not get lost!  Anyways, he picked us up at 8:00 am.and the first stop was the wooden pagoda.

Yingxian Wooden Pagoda
Yingxian Village, Shanxi Province, China

The trip took roughly an hour and it was a nice scenic ride for the most part. The Yingxian pagoda is quite the site, it’s leaning a bit and as a result you can’t go up although we did see one or two people on the second floor balcony. From online reviews, I thought an hour should be enough time even if we could have gone up to the second story. We spent two hours there and didn’t even get a chance to look around the town as our driver was walking around looking for us!

In front of the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda

Behind the Pagoda is a temple and a yard. In the yard area is an exhibition hall and open space, some nice looking flowers there and an old looking door that’s closed and locked. The temple is cool too and if you go to the very back you’ll get a view to where that old door in the yard leads to. A very big courtyard of an old palace looking building (looks abandoned though).

Temple behind the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda.

Yard beside the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda.

I really do hope that the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda gets UNESCO World Heritage status, it really is a feat of engineering and a site to see! Was well worth the 50 Yuan entrance fee, in my opinion.

Hanging Monastery
Hunyuan County, Shanxi Province, China

Wide view of the Hanging Temple of Mount Heng.

Our next stop was the Hanging Temple (Monastery)  which took about 1 hour 15 minutes by taxi from the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda. The Entrance fee was125 Yuan. If you’re afraid of heights, you may want to give this a miss. The hanging temple is made of wood and the floor boards creak and may sway. The pathways are narrow (two people cannot pass shoulder to shoulder). The railings are around mid thigh height (I’m roughly 5’10”) in many areas and my be a bit unnerving. If you are wearing a back pack, going up and down the narrow stairs may be tricky, you may bump your head or get stuck.

Narrow stair case of the Hanging Temple.

Slender poles supporting the Hanging Temple.

Having said that, it is quite a sight and experience. Everything felt solid enough to walk on. We took an hour to see everything but rushed a bit as we think that’s what the taxi driver was saying since we had one more stop to go.

Overall we felt that there should be more to see for the ticket price but maybe we missed some? There was a blocked pathway leading up to areas you can see from up in the temple, so maybe it would be better when that section reopens.

Heng Shan
Hunyuan County, Shanxi Province, China

The start of the upward hike up Heng Shan.

Heng Shan’s scenic area is roughly 30 minutes up the mountain from the Hanging Temple. We spent 3 hours hiking up and down the mountain and couldn’t finish it as the path lead to a totally different part of the mountain in which we wouldn’t be able to communicate with our driver where to come get us. Also, what we thought was the peak, wasn’t we found another staircase going further up but running short of time (we had to get back down the mountain) we elected not to find out what was up top.

An entrance to one of the many temples on Heng Shan.

An entrance to one of the many temples on Heng Shan.

There are a few temples on the way up to the top but some were closed. Thankfully there was a “rest stop” about 1/2 way with toilets and a drink stall. The view is of the the valley below is nice. To get to what we thought was the top you have to climb a VERY STEEP flight of stairs. It was scary just looking at it. On the way up and down there were people making their way on all fours! There’s enough to see up there to make it worth the effort.

Steep stairs to the top most temple at Heng Shan.

Temple at the top of Heng Shan

To truly enjoy Heng Shan we feel you should devote more than 3 hours. The entrance fee of 50 Yuan plus the 10 Yuan parking fee we feel is more than reasonable for this place. It’s truly remarkable. One thing to note though. As you leave (towards the end of the day) you may get approached by other taxi drivers to take their cab. This one guy went so far as to tell our driver we wanted to go with him but told me that there were 2 more passengers to ride to Datong. So I ok, they can ride with us. It hadn’t crossed my mind that he was poaching us until he beckoned for us to follow him (we were already in our taxi) so I said no, closed the door and motioned for our driver to go. He seemed upset but I couldn’t ascertain whether he thought we tried to bail on him or that the other guy was poaching. Anyways, something to be aware of.

For more images taken in and around Datong, check out my Datong Flickr Album.

Review of Yungang Grottoes. Datong, China

Posted on by
Reply

Yungang Grottoes
Shanxi Province, Datong.

Yungang Grottos is a UNESCO World Heritage site just outside the city of Datong. While you can catch a bus directly to the site you may want to consider a taxi. While the bus is significantly cheaper, it also take longer to get there. Plus, finding the bus stations/stops might be a challenge. Well, for us it was, we didn’t notice any obvious signage or anything indicative of a bus stop (like a numbers), also we didn’t notice any bus station like building. Anyways, if you can afford the time it is much cheaper by public transport. If you choose to go by taxi, you can either go one way (probably cheaper initially) or the taxi driver may offer you a higher price and then will wait for you in the parking area until you’re done. This may be better because your fare is already negotiated and you won’t get ripped off by the second taxi taking you back (I haven’t had experience with that, only read reviews saying fares are higher on the return trip because the drivers know there’s no other option for you). Also, since payment is made when you return from the outing, you’re guaranteed a ride back. From Datong Hotel, front desk got us a taxi for 200 yuan (this is a bit on the steep side, I think). The ride was roughly 40 minutes driving fast. Remember to take a picture of the taxi, driver and license plate so you can find the guy easier when you’re done at the Grottoes.

Just inside the traffic gate at the Yungang Grottoes.

At the Grottoes, you get dropped off at the parking area and you have to walk into the “scenic area”. There are street vendors with drinks and stuff, as well as people (quite aggressively) trying to sell “discount” tickets. Not sure what the deal is but if you can understand whats being said maybe you can get a deal. We did buy drinks from street vendor. I picked Pepsi, at least what I thought was Pepsi. You can see it in the photo but the coloration was a lot lighter than in the photo. I threw it out right after the photo. From the parking area roughly 50 meters away you’ll see a traffic gate/building structure (the background structure in the photo). Go through the gates and keep going straight! Right after passing through the gate/building there is a way to go left with lots of stuff to see, restaurants etc. That’s the exit plaza. To get to the entrance where the ticket office is, keep going straight, you’ll see stairs. Going up the stairs the ticketing office is in the building on the left. Tickets were 125 Yuan. If you like postcards, don’t crumple the ticket because you can tear off the stubs and the remainder is a postcard. We got there at 13:30 and they closed at 17:00. We barely finished it. We could have spent more time looking at things the last hour but we rushed the grottoes knowing we’d run out of time. Not knowing that there is a park area and that the exit was a ways off.

The first section after you buy your tickets and enter the “Grottoes” is a plaza of sorts with temples, a pagoda, some stone art. You’ll pass an Art Gallery too. After getting past all of that, you’ll cross a bridge before getting to the Grottoes section.

View of Yungang Temple after crossing the bridge to the Grottoes.

The first set of caves at the Yungang Grottoes.

The main paths are pretty much smooth and easy to walk. For the grottoes that are higher, there are wooden stairs and platforms built for access. Inside however is a mix. Some have wooden walkways, some do not and some caves were empty.

Wooden stairs and platforms at the Yungang grottoes

Some caves at the Yungang grottoes were empty but perhaps weren't before.

There is temple on top of the cliff (was under repairs at the time) accessible by an almost hidden (by trees) stairway path. The view from up there is pretty cool and you can see how big this “park” really is. Behind this building is a path that goes somewhere, being pressed for time we didn’t venture that far. Some of the caves were enclosed for their protection, some of which were unavailable for entry.

Temple on top of a cliff at the Yungang Grottoes.

Building built to protect the cave from further deterioration.

Like I said earlier we almost didn’t finish the Grottoes section, but we for sure didn’t get to see most of the park area because we got picked up by an extended golf cart and taken to the exit area because we wouldn’t make it on time for closing. We had to pay 5 yuan each for the ride.  If you can’t walk the entire grounds, you can take the tour cart. It doesn’t go into where the actually caves are though. You may want to budget a bit more time if you like to take lots of photos (like me) because some of the closed areas may be open when you go and also for the park area after the grottoes area. There were games and stalls and stuff.

A large stone buddha carved into a cliff at the Yungang Grottoes.

A large stone buddha carved into a cliff at the Yungang Grottoes.

Once you exit the grottoes, the exit plaza has a whole bunch of stalls for you to buy souvenirs. Lots of cool stuff, remember prices can be negotiable. I got 20 yuan off just for picking up a silver bracelet after asking for the price. If you plan to buy the black bead bracelets keep this in mind, once you exit the traffic gates to get to the parking area where your taxi should be waiting, there are a lot of old ladies selling those bracelets at 3 for 10 yuan but I got offered as high as 7 for 10 yuan. These old ladies are aggressive! They will put the bracelets in your hand on your arm wherever they can and refuse to take them back. Once you buy from one you will get swarmed. They will prevent you from closing the taxi door even (our driver was of no help in shooing them away) eventually though they gave up.

All in all,  in our opinion, the Yungang Grottoes is worth the entrance fee. I think I could spend an additional 3 hours in there. Our only regret is rushing and not finishing the park as well as not trying the food. Although you may not want to if you have nut allergies (specifically peanuts) I saw and smelled a lot of peanuts at the exit plaza area.

For more of my photos taken in and around Datong, visit my Datong Album on Flickr.

Review of Datong Great Wall and Inner City Attractions

Posted on by
Reply

Datong Inner City Tourist Attractions

Datong City Wall

Biking on Datong’s Great Wall.

The Datong City Wall  encloses the original city of Datong. It is quite spectacular to see. This wall is not the original wall, it is a replica which is why it looks relatively new. Still impressive to look at and be on top of! Getting onto the wall is free, you just have to show your ID (passports are fine). At two of the gates you can rent bikes for 60 Yuan per hour and you can return the bike at the other bike stop if you don’t want to ride the whole wall. From what we could interpret, you can finish the wall in an hour. We paid for the hour but it took us two so we just paid the extra hour when returning the bike so don’t worry about going over on time. We stopped a lot to admire views and take pictures and just overall messing around having fun. As you can see in the photo below, the wall is really wide, some parts are being restored and my daughter taking off on the bike when I got off to take pictures of the city below.

After the wall you can continue to walk around and there are plenty of things to see like Temples. All the ones we walked into while looking for the “tourist attractions” were free.

9 Dragon Screen

Largest 9 Dragon Screen in China.

9 Dragon Screen for all the hype it was, in my opinion, underwhelming. While the size of this wall and the story behind it is interesting the space they had it in was bleh at best. The cost to enter was 10 yuan per person. I thought it was worth it just for being able to see something that old in relatively good shape. Despite the total destruction of the palace it was part of part. There’s even a mini moat in front of the wall although it’s dry and unassuming. Over 600 years old and surviving a sacking or two this palace wall remnant is not in pristine condition (like in the images in the post cards they sell) but it still looks really awesome, it’s reported to be the largest of only 3 such walls in China.  There is a gift shop in which the attendees were a bit aggressive, sticking things in your hands for you to see, if you didn’t want it they’d just yank it back.

Walking/wandering around we passed many interesting places, a coffee shop (with an English menu) sites still under construction/renovation. Then we get to a plaza where young people were skateboarding and hanging out. This was right in front of the Huayan Monastery.

Huayan Monastery

Entry fee was 65 Yuan. This place is huge! Lots to see.we took an hour and a half and still didn’t see everything. Almost though. They are pretty diligent in closing on time at 18:30. There is a pagoda you can go all the way to the top and there’s a basement you can go down too. To help preserve the inside, you are required to were slip on covers over your shoes. Also, the stairs are pretty steep and narrow, so mind your shins.

Close up of the pagoda in Huayan Monastery

Slip ons for your shoes to help preserve the flooring in the pagoda

I wished I had more time in this monastery, I really like the “feel” and would really have like to see everything. Well worth the entrance fee! There are monks walking around, some even join the tour groups and add to the stories (I’m guessing as they do a lot of talking). So monks (not just in this monastery) will actually move to a more favorable spot for you to include them in your shot. I found that really awesome! The first few times I was hesitant as I thought maybe it was a gimmick and they’d come ask for a “tip”, but that never happened! It seemed they genuinely wanted to help you get a “better” shot.

Walking around at night was something else! Although really dark in many places, we didn’t feel threatened but didn’t want to leave things to chance either, we made our back to the hotel. Some places only had the lights from the buildings on top of the wall or car headlights.

The Datong Great Wall at night.

NOTE: Although I took a lot of time photographing things, I could have taken a lot more. There’s just so many things to see and make images of!

For more photos taken in and around Datong, check out my Flickr Album.

My journey to the Pingyao International Photography Festival 2017

Posted on by
Reply

Documenting my journey into China. I thought it would be a good idea to visit some historic sites on my way to the Pingyao International Photography Festival 2017, which is the largest photography festival in China and set within the ancient city walls of Pingyao in the Shanxi province. Hopefully my exploits will help some of you if you happen be in similar situation(s). I will put my visit to each tourist site in separate posts with links in this post. It was quite a privilege for me to participate as part of the Photographic Society of Singapore’s curated contingent. Here’s me with my entries:

My large prints on exhibit at the Pingyao International Photography Festival 2017

My large prints on exhibit at the Pingyao International Photography Festival 2017

NOTE: Yuan and Renmenbi are used interchangeably as the name for China’s currency. Yuan is the official name, I think.

My daughter and I flew out of Singapore on China Eastern Airlines into Shanghai’s Pudong Airport and had a few hours layover before our flight to Datong so we got some breakfast and ate it at the gate lobby. Although the flight was on time and we were sitting outside the gate, we almost missed the flight!!! Between my daughter and myself we heard only one call to board roughly 30 minutes before the printed boarding time on our boarding pass. As we got to the counter, we noticed that we were at last call with roughly 10 minutes left and being rushed and a bunch of people were starting to stir behind us. Apparently, there were 2 flights leaving from this gate and the attendants were sifting through the passengers. So we got through with a bunch of other people and had to get on a bus, there was enough of us stragglers to fill the bus! Then it took us roughly 25 minutes to get to the plane. We all boarded the plane, no hassles, plenty of overhead cabin space and the flight went by smooth. No horror stories, no bad service, zip. Three hours later we land in Datong

View of Datong Airport’s terminal from the runway.

Datong airport has a tourist transportation kiosk that you can see as soon as you step past security after collecting your bags, it’s a big red sign in English. The lady we spoke to didn’t speak English though but we managed to ascertain that the free bus that goes into the city had just left and that a taxi would cost 50 yuan. So instead of wait 30 min. for the next free bus (which would have stopped in front of our hotel) we chose to take the taxi she walked us out to get the cab and made sure the driver knew that the fare would be 50 yuan. The ride by (speeding) taxi was roughly 30 min. I imagine the bus would take twice as long.

NOTE: I was told prior to leaving for this trip that everything was negotiable and that it is imperative that you ask for the price BEFORE you get into the taxi. This lady dictating/reinforcing the fare really set this process in my mind.

Our Itinerary (will link to reviews when I write them):
First Day: Yungang Grottoes.
Second Day: Wooden Pagoda, Hanging Temple, Hengshan mountain
Third Day: Datong Great Wall and inner city walk around.
My full review of Datong Hotel

So we got to the hotel, Datong Hotel, roughly 20 minutes later and was able to check in early. There was a guy (tall with glasses) that could speak a bit of English that helped us check in. He took my Booking.com details and was quite pleasant. He informed me that I had to use my credit card for security deposit and I understood a charge of 1/3 the quoted price would be charged. He actually charged 1/3 over the quoted price and said the difference would be “returned”. I didn’t really think I’d get ripped off and if I did I can dispute, right? Not really. Anyways, got the keys and went to the room to drop off our suitcases. We were excited and wanted to go see stuff already. We spent roughly 3 days and 3 nights in Datong. There are many eateries around but none looked like they would have English menus so we just picked a joint that had pictures on the wall and pointed out our order. Here’s a picture of the hotel front yard:

Datong Hotel

Front view of Datong Hotel.

 

The hotel is old, but not dirty. A bit dark in places but overall, ok. It’s kind of close to many of Datong’s attraction.  Only ran into 3 staff that could converse, kind of, in English. All were front desk staff. Although the hotel’s rates are relatively inexpensive beware of this scheme:

My quote from Booking.com was in the amount of 684 Yuan for 3 nights. Upon checkout, they did not reverse the security deposit charge and charge the subsequent correct amount of 812 yuan (we room charged dinner one night in the amount of 128 yuan). When questioned, they punched a bunch of stuff into the machine it spit out a long paper that had the correct amounts on it but was difficult to read. Now going on at the same time, the taxi we had arranged, had not shown up yet (20 min late) and I was worried we would miss our train to Pingyao. So I figured I would give them the benefit of the doubt and deal with this through my credit card if necessary. Also the converted potential loss would be around $38 dollars (my currency) which would be cheaper than missing my train.

UPDATE: As of 9/30/17 The security deposit is gone from my credit card statement and the proper charge is reflected.

So we got the hotel to get us a taxi to the train station. It cost 15 yuan and took roughly 20 min. We got to the train station, went through security, bought some drinks and took a toilet break, 10 min later it was boarding time. Here’s the train station:

Datong’s railway station.

TIP: get your tickets early and try not to get the standing or hard seats (standing literally means standing in the aisle of the hard seat section). I used Ctrip.com (their website’s in English and you can pay via Mastercard or Visa) and collected the tickets the day before the train ride (again 15 yuan from Hotel). Take a picture of your ticket(s) before you board.

Although the sign says pick up tickets here (where the lady in yellow is in the above picture), behind all those doors is the security line of bag x-ray machines and security personnel with metal detectors. To pick up tickets, go through security and walk down the corridor on the right (as if you had walk straight through the doors where the lady in yellow is in the photo above). The corridor opens up and you’ll see ticket counters from which you can get your tickets. If you’re catching your train, after security check, show your ticket to the last security personnel and they’ll point you in the direction you need to go. Well at least that worked for us, the lady security guard even spoke the directions in English.

We booked the Hard Sleeper seats which are bunk beds three high on either side of a cubicle. One train car has like 4 or 5 cubicles. I couldn’t pick seats so we got one way at the top and one on the opposite side bottom (at least we were in the same cubicle. Don’t be surprised if someone is on your bunk, they will move when you get there if not show your picture of your ticket. The person who took your ticket when you boarded the train will give you a plastic card when the train starts moving. This card is what you will need to show if you get questioned when/if you walk around. There is a dining car, but was locked when we tried to get food. You give back the plastic card when the train personnel comes by presumably to tell you your stop is coming up.

Train tickets from Datong to Pingyao

Plastic cards given on train with seat/bunk number

TIP: Know how many stops and keep count of the stops you’ve passed. There are either NO SIGNAGE or they are very hard to see/find or not in English. Arrival time may be off by 15 min (ours was and we almost didn’t get off the train, a fellow passenger my daughter befriended told us that we needed to get off the train). Some train stops seems really close together so it may not be obvious even though the train personnel came to take the plastic card. Here’s the Pingyao train station (slow train) the high speed train station is some where else.

Pingyao train station platform.

Outside of Pingyao Train Station.

The outside of the station had some construction going on so I couldn’t get a better frontal shot. But all you would need is the characters on top of the building to show anyone if you needed to get to Pingyao’s regular train station (as in not the high speed train station).

So we booked a hotel (Hong Changyu Inn, review here) within the ancient city walls and while it is technically possible to walk from the train station, I’m guessing 30 min walk. I wouldn’t. We tried and abandoned the task within 5 min. We both had wheeled carry on sized suitcases and the surface is not conducive to rolling them on. The way is a patchwork of nice brick surfaces, to cobblestone to dirt patches. Then the “sidewalk” would end and you’d have to walk on the street (that in itself is a harrowing experience). Better just to get one of those “tuk tuk” looking taxis for 20 yuan or better yet have the hotel go get you some hotels offer it for free mine didn’t.

Due to time constraints I had to limit our stay in Pingyao to 3 days and nights. The Pingyao International Photography Festival spans a week. Within the city there are 22 tourists spots which you can enter using one ticket. Which usually costs 130 Yuan. This ticket  during the festival was on sale for 65 yuan and has a bar code on it that gets scanned at the entry of each tourist destination (sometimes scanning is self service). There are some attractions that aren’t included with the ticket (so look for the turnstyle gate thing). We allotted a whole day (our last day) for the attractions and only finished 11. We did see an additional 2 attractions (temples) from the outside because they were closed. The attractions close around 18:00 / 18:30. So keep that in mind. Pingyao Ancient city is way bigger than it seems especially if you plan to walk everything.

The people are friendly, most can tolerate the language barrier and we found more English practitioners in Pingyao than in Datong. Food prices can very widely and coffee is scarce and when I did find it it was 48 yuan a cup, beer was only 18 yuan and bottle drinks 5 yuan. Street food stall prices vary too. I had a sausage on a stick for 15 yuan at one stall and at a different stall I had two on a stick for 10 yuan.

My review of Pingyao International Photography Festival 2017.

Even being able to speak Cantonese didn’t help with the language barriers as everyone spoke Mandarin, but according to my daughter the Mandarin we encountered is different than what she learned in school. If you can speak another Chinese dialect I would encourage you to try if only to negate the crassness of some people who find it unreasonable that a Chinese person can’t speak “Chinese”.

The hotel we stayed in was the Hong Changyu Inn and it was exactly as advertised on Booking.com. Shaw, the inn keeper can converse in English and was extremely helpful. He also (at my request) arranged a cab to drive us to Taiyuan Airport for 380 yuan (the driver was conscientious and safe). Payment inclusive of security deposit was paid in full upon check in (just remember to get your receipt and you should be fine). Deposit was refunded with no issues. Actually I got 6 yuan extra because neither of us had small bills. Here’s a photo taken from within the courtyard:

Courtyard of Hong Changyu Inn

My review of Hong Changyu Inn

From Taiyuan we flew to Shanghai’s Hongqiao Airport, and had 10 hours layover so we rode the subway into town (peoples square), it was raining so not much happening in the park so we walked around the malls, then took the subway to Pudong Airport for the flight back to Singapore. Food prices and trinket stuff in the malls were not so bad but the branded stuff, I found, were more expensive than Singapore. There is a distinct shift in friendliness too, Shanghai being way less friendly than Pingyao, Datong or Taiyuan (though we only spent time in the airport).

There are a lot of bad reviews for China Eastern Airlines but for us, the only thing to complain about was the age of the plane, it was readily apparent. Some planes had no screens for movies, broken tray tables, broken cup holders, torn seats, lumpy seats (I used the blanket as a cushion on one flight). Other than that it’s not bad (especially for the price). Every flight had a meal, AWESOME!. My daughter and I love airplane food! Oh conversing with the flight crew in English may be an issue at times, for example, we asked for apple juice they said yes and gave us orange juice.

I really wish I had more time in both Datong and Pingyao. I really loved both places. The air quality everywhere we went was noticeably bad, especially in the morning. It literally leaves a bad taste in your mouth but by noon most of it was gone, not the taste though. Maybe that’s why people spit so much in China.

NOTES:
1. Horns, bells, whistles and verbal sirens are all indicators that the person is coming through and will not give way (for the most part) so it’s best if you move, especially if you’re a pedestrian.
2. Spitting is loud and everyone does it, it seems. Chances are quite high you’ll step in a big wad of spit/mucous if you don’t watch where you’re going.
3. Children (boys and girls) will pull down their pants and pee wherever. In Pingyao we saw numerous toddlers with pants that had no back side to facilitate the easy of relieving themselves I guess.
4. If you leave even the slightest gap, someone will cut in and think nothing of it, it’s normal. People will get mad or shove you through if you don’t do it.
5. You’ll be lucky if you get a sitting toilet, expect to squat. ALWAYS bring your own tissue.
6. For this trip (since I have a very intolerant digestive system), I followed the pharmacist’s advice and used Duolac then when my stomach got a bit queasy (only 3 times)  I took Imodium. My whole trip I had no problems and was even eating street food!!!
7. Smoking is allowed almost EVERYWHERE it seems.

More Datong photos in this Flickr Album
More Pingyao photos in this Flickr Album