Datong and Mount Wutai Tourist Zone

Major attractions:  Mount Wutai, Xuankong (Overhanging) Monastery, Nine Dragon Screen ,Yungang Grottoes, and Huayan Monastery.

Mount Wutai

With a vast assemblage of natural scenery, historical and cultural heritage, classic architecture, Buddhism, and peculiar folkways, Mount Wutai Tourist Zone in the county of the same name in northeast Shanxi is a welcome resort for those who come for sightseeing, holidaymaking and recuperation purposes. The center of the zone, Taihuai Town, is nestled in the mountains. Buddhism is thriving at Mount Wutai. Construction of Buddhist temples began during the Eastern Han, and today 48 of them are still there, with several hundred monks and nuns. Mount Wutai is a showcase of classical Chinese architecture, sculpture and painting.

Overhanging Monastery

The precipitous and picturesque Mount Hengshan is one of the five holy mountains in China. Midway up its slope is the Xuankong (Overhanging) Monastery, a rare alpine complex built in the late Northern Wei, with 40 or so halls and chambers hanging on the rock face of a sheer cliff.

Nine-dragon Screen

The Nine Dragon Screen in Datong, Shanxi Province is said to be the largest screen of its type anywhere in China, which is 45.5 meters (150 feet) long, 8 meters (26 feet) high and 2.02 (6.6 feet) meters thick and consists of 426 pieces of glazed tiles. The screen stands in front of the mansion of the thirteenth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty. In ancient times, the screen served as a barrier both keeping passers-by peeping into the house and making visitors tidy up themselves before meeting the hosts. There is a pool in front of the screen and the inverted reflection of the screen in water makes it seem to come to life.

Yungang Grottoes

With some 51,000 sculptures of varying sizes in 53 rock caves, the 1, 500-year-old Yungang Grottoes in west Datong is the largest cluster of grottoes in China and a world-famous treasure house of art.

Huayan Monastery 

Named after the Huayan sect of Buddhism, is a complex of the Upper Huayan Monastery, also called the Great Temple of Treasure(Da Xiong Bao Dian) and the Lower Huayan Monastery.

The Upper Huayan Monastery (Da Xiong Bao Dian) is considered to be one of the two biggest Buddhist halls existent in China. And it was built under the Liao Dynasty in 1062. The Monastery suffered from a severe damage in the last years of the Liao and yet it was restored by the Jin in 1140. There are five major Buddhas in the center of the hall, either side of which are 20 celestial warriors. Contrary to the splendid Upper Huayan Monastery, the Lower Huayan Monastery, constructed in 1038, has a touch of quaintness, where Buddhist scripture are stored. The Trinity Buddhas comprising the Past Buddha, the Present Buddha and the future Buddha are enshrined and worshipped here. Around the sides of the Trinity Buddhas are twenty eight guardian figures, among which the Bodhisattva with a pious prayer pose is the most lifelike.