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Day
1
Arrive in Datong
Transfer via: Flight on your own arrangement
After your arrival in Datong, you will be met and transferred to your hotel by our local guide. Feel free at leisure for the rest of the day.
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Day
2
Datong (B, L)
Sightseeing: The Shang Huayan Monastery, The Yungang Grottoes, Datong Nine-Dragon Screen Wall
Today we will first visit the Shang Huayan Monastery. The Huayan Monastery complex is located on Daxi Street on the south western side of Datong City. There are two separate sections to the monastery, the upper one referred to as the Grand Hall housing five large Ming Dynasty Buddhas, and the lower section referred to as the Sutra Temple containing a library of some 18,000 volumes of Buddhist writings. Built during the Liao Dynasty (907 - 1125), the Huayan Monastery is the largest and best preserved monastery of the Liao Dynasty in existence in China. This monastery was built according to the Huayan Sutra Sect of the Huayan School and is unique in that it faces east instead of south.
Then we will head to the 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.
Finally visit the Datong Nine-Dragon Screen Wall, which is presently the oldest and largest glazed screen in China today. It is three times larger than that in Beihai Park, Beijing City. The screen, It is made up of 426 specially-fired glazed bricks, with a height of 8 meters (about 26 feet), 2.02 meters (6.6 feet) thick and 45.5 meters (149 feet) long. The Screen can be divided into three parts, the pedestal, body and roof.
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Day
3
Datong (B, L)
Sightseeing: Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, Hanging Monastery
After breakfast, we will drive to visit Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, also known as Fogong Temple and Seokga Pagoda is located in the Fogong Palace of Yingxian County and was built in Qingning years of Liao Dynasty (1056). It is the oldest, largest and the best preserved wooden tower building in China. Except the 4-meter-high stone ground, the wooden pagoda did not use any nail or rivet, all materials are wooden and connected by 50 kinds of base-mat. Every floor was supported by wooden pillars from inside and outside, about 60kinds of inclined beams, wooden stumps and short pillars were used between the wooden pillars, thus, formed a wooden structure of repeated beam. The pagoda is octagonal-shaped with six eaves and nine storeys.
Then we will have a visit to Hanging Monastery. It stands at the foot of Mt. Hengshan, 5 kilometers (3 miles) south of Hunyuan County, and 65 kilometers (40 miles) from downtown Datong City. Since it hangs on the west cliff of Jinxia Gorge more than 50 meters above the ground, it is called Hanging Monastery. It is an architectural wonder. A unique mechanical theory was applied to building the framework. Crossbeams were half-inserted into the rock as the foundation, while the rock in back became its support. Seen from below, Hanging Monastery appears to be a tumble-down castle in the air. Inside, Hanging Monastery provides the same scene as other temples.
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Day
4
Departure Datong (B)
Transfer via: Flight on your own arrangement
Enjoy some leisure time today until your guide will transfer you to the airport where you will pick the flight to your next destination.