Tag Archives: Datong
Rebuilding the old in Datong
I don’t have a good impression of Datong. I found it to have a slightly sullen, seedy air. It felt depressing, chaotic and grimy. There was a layer of dust on everything. And the reason for that soon became clear … Continue reading
Hanging on a prayer
It only gets 3 hours of sunlight a day. That’s one reason why the Hanging Monastery of Hengshan or in Chinese, Xuankong Si (悬空寺) is still in relatively good shape today despite its 1,500-year history. The faded paintwork aside, one … Continue reading
Yungang Grottoes: Home of the Buddhas big and small
I have mixed feelings about this place. On the one hand, the thousands of Buddhas (51,000 to be exact) huge and tiny, carved from the sandstone hills leave me slack-jawed with awe. The thought that these have withstood the ravages … Continue reading
Finding Mr Gao and CITS Datong
The day’s plan hinged on me finding the Datong CITS office. We only have a day in Datong and wanted to do as most people do – see the key sights and take the night train out. In my research, … Continue reading
Going on the midnight train… to Datong!
Not Ms Knight and the Pips. And certainly going nowhere near Georgia. But we were getting on that midnight train from Beijing to Datong. Traveling via night trains is always a good way to save some time and money. I’m … Continue reading
Independent travel in China with children
BigonTrips was started to document the trips I made with my large family and to prove that independent travel with children in tow need not be expensive nor difficult, that children are very adaptive travelers and with their deep and … Continue reading
Big On Trips 