Yungang Grottoes

Be picked up from your Datong hotel or railway station or airport , relax in a chartered car , and explore the Yungang Grottoes and Hanging Temple on your own. You will see the World Heritage Yungang Grottoes , with their 252 caves and 51,000 statues, represent the outstanding achievement of Buddhist cave art in China in the 5th and 6th centuries. The Five Caves created by Tan Yao, with their strict unity of layout and design, constitute a classical masterpiece of the first peak of Chinese Buddhist art. Afterwards, see the Hanging Temple .Built more than 1,500 years ago, this temple is notable not only for its location on a sheer precipice but also because as a Buddhist temple it also contains references to the other two of the three Chinese traditional philosophies or religions : Taoism, and Confucianism. The structure is kept in place with oak crossbeams fitted into holes chiseled into the cliffs. The main supportive structure is hidden inside the bedrock.The monastery is located in the small canyon basin, and the body of the building hangs from the middle of the cliff under the prominent summit, protecting the temple from rain erosion and sunlight bake. Enjoy these two sites views of Datong , dropped off at your hotel or railway station or airport in Datong. We may change the order of the two locations based on the location of your hotel ，station or airport. If you have any special requirements, please let us know. Thanks :)

After hotel pick–up at 9:00 am, transfer to visit the Hanging Temple, a temple built into a cliff 75 meters above the ground near Datong city. Discover the temple, built more than 1500 years ago, and marvel at its massive size. Find out more about the only existing temple to combine three Chinese traditional religions: Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Enjoy your lunch in local restaurant before you move on to the Yungang Grottoes, one of the three most famous ancient Buddhist sculptural sites of China. Take in this outstanding example of the Chinese stone carvings from the 5th and 6th centuries. See the 53 major caves, along with 51000 niches housing the same number of Buddha statues. Find out how the grottoes were excavated in the south face of a sandstone cliff. In 2001, the Yungang Grottoes were made a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At the end of the tour, return to your hotel in Datong.

Pick up at your hotel or train station in Datong Transfer time : Hotel/ Train Station -> Yungang Grottoes : 1 hour Yungang Grottoes -> Hanging Temple : 2 hours Hanging Temple -> Wooden Pagoda : 1 hour Wooden Pagoda -> Datong hotel : 1.5 hours You can bring food for lunch, or you can inform us in advance that you would like to dine at a restaurant on the way. We only have traditional local Chinese restaurants here, and the dining time is from 11:30am to 2pm. There is a limit on the number of visitors to the Hanging Temple, and most of the time you need to queue up to enter. The waiting time varies from 1 to 2 hours. In order to give you enough waiting time, we may adjust the order of attractions, but we will not reduce the number of attractions. It is a 4 -seater car for 1-3 people It is a 7 -seater car for 4-6 people It is a 14-seater car for 7-10 people

Our driver will pick you up from your Beijing downtown hotel, then you will be transferred to the train station. Our driver will accompany you all the way to the right waiting room and make sure all tickets are ok. Enjoy a 2 hour bullet train ride on your own to Datong. Once arrive at Datong. Your local tour guide will greet you upon arrival at the train station, then go over the day’s itinerary on your way to the first stop of the day - Hanging Temple. The Hanging temple is the only existed temple hosting worship for the Taoists, Confucians and Buddhists. Built in 491 A.D, Hanging Temple is an architectural wonder because it hangs on the west cliff of Jinxia Gorge more than 50 meters above the ground. It has established its unique position among the various temples and monastery with its characteristics of “peril, workmanship and miracle”. Upon arrival, follow your tour guide to explore the temples and get to know the detailed stories and histories. Next, stop at a local restaurant for a quick lunch. Then heading directly to Yungang Grottoes (Approximately 1.5 hours drive). As an UNESCO World Cultual Heritage Site, Yungang Grottoes is deemed as the Three Largest and Most Famous Grottoes Clusters together with Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang, and Longmen Grottoes of Henan. With their 252 caves and 51,000 status, the Yungang Grottoes art represent the successful fusion of Buddhist religious symbolic art from south and central Asian with Chinese cultural traditions, starting in the 5th century CE under Imperial auspices. The power and endurance of Buddhist belief in China are vividly illustrated by the Yungang Gottoes. After the tour you will be transferred to Datong railway station and heading back to Beijing. Once arrive, our driver will pick you up from the train station, and you will be transferred back to your hotel in Beijing.

Meet your tour guide in the lobby of your Datong hotel or Datong Railway Station/Airport. Then hop on your private vehicle and heading directly to Yungang Grottoes which will take 30 minutes. Your tour guide will explain the related histories and stories along the way, feel free to ask questions if you have. Upon arrival, follow your tour guide to admire outstanding achievement of Buddhist cave art in China during the 5th and 6th centuries architecture at Yungang Grottoes. Enjoy lunch in the local restaurant, heading directly to Hengshan Hanging Temple which will take 1.5 hours. The hanging temple is the only existed temple hosting worship for the Taoists, Confucians and Buddhists. Built in 491 A.D, Hanging Temple is an architectural wonder because it hangs on the west cliff of Jinxia Gorge more than 50 meters above the ground. Follow your tour guide to experience the 1400 years architectural wonder, get to learn the history of three major religions in China and how these believes been used into the architecture. After the tour finished, you will be transferred to your hotel in Datong.

Meet guide in the hotel lobby or Datong train station, visit Yungang grottoes, it was excavated along the mountain, imposingly stretching 1 kilometer with rich contents. Covering over 18,000 square meters engraving area, there are existing 45 main caves, 209 subsidiary caves, more than 1,100 niches, and 58000 Buddha statues. After that we will visit Hanging temple, as it's like hanging on the mountian so it's got its name, built in northen Wei Dynasty with history of more than 1400years old. A unique temple with Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism mixed culture.