Continental Datong

... and people taking pictures!<br><br>When we reached Datong we caught the bus to our hotel and checked in. Because there is no hostels in Datong we had to book a proper hotel for once. This turned out to be a 4 star luxury business hotel, not bad for £12 a night!!! We actually had a private bathroom with a toilet instead of a squat, toilet roll, bath, tv, air con, mini bar and even comlimentary toothbrushes!! We hadn't ...

... mining town of Datong near the border of Inner Mongolia. This part of China is rife with coal and unsafe mining conditions. Whenever you hear of an accident in a coal mine in China, odds are it is near Datong. We decided it wasn't worth staying in Datong and so headed out to stay at the foot of Mt. Hengshan. We still had about 75 km to travel and the last bus had already left. We boarded another bus that would bring close to the town and figured we ...

... up in an alley downtown eating various deep fried dishes (we tried EVERYTHING but the tofu was the best) and warm beer (but it was cheap so we didn&#8217;t complain!).<br><br>If you&#8217;re thinking about going to see the monastery and caves I&#8217;d strongly recommend taking a night train from Beijing and then another night train the following night. If you can avoid staying overnight in Datong, do it!<br><br>That evening I made my way to the train station ...

... 1512; - &#1508;&#1506;&#1502;&#1497;&#1497;&#15 01;, &#1492;&#1488;&#1496;&#1512;&#1511;&#15 10;&#1497;&#1492; &#1492;&#1514;&#1497;&#1497;&#1512;&#14 93;&#1514;&#1497;&#1514; &#1492;&#1490;&#1491;&#1493;&#1500;&#14 92; &#1513;&#1500; &#1492;&#1506;&#1497;&#1512; &#1502;&#1506;&#1512;&#1493;&#1514; &#1497;&#1493;&#1504;&#1490; &#1490;&#1493;&#1504;&#1490; &#1500;&#1488; &#1502;&#1491;&#1492;&#1497;&#1502;&#14 93;&#1514;, &#1493;&#1492;&#1488;&#1493;&#1499;&#15 00; &#1508 ...

... the middle. The ancient wall also sported a Tang Dynasty era tower that glittered brilliantly in the morning sun. I was barely awake, but I will never forget that sunrise. The next day we undertook an "epic" journey to Hengshan; one of the "Five Famous Peaks" in China. Again, Lu Wei's father was an excellent host. He took Lu Wei, his little sister (whom he comically calls baozi, or dumpling, because she used to be chubby as a baby), his grandfather (whom he calls Lao Lao, literally,"Old ...

... Proste Cina :) U jedne z jeskyni je poznamka, ze protoze se jeden cisar bal, ze jeskyne budou blizkou rekou zatopene, povolal par jednotek armady a nechal je celou reku prestehovat o pul kilometru vedle. Holt na vsechno tu maji dost lidi :) Odpoledne jsme vyrazili doobejit posledni pamatky ve meste, predevsim chram v jizni casti mesta. Ta uz lehce pripominala ghetto (nastesti nas mistni docela ignorovali a policajty tu maji na kazdem rohu, ale nic moc), jak jinak, hned vedle teto ...

... grown me playing a game that involves one man throwing a large ring and the other catching it around his head!   I am almost done writing but I can't let you go without telling you that we had an amazing train ride home!  We had comfortable seats, plenty of leg room, and the option to use the restroom!  The only problem was that the ride was only 2 hours so it really didn't make up for the 7 hour one into Beijing...  We had a great trip and are even happier to be back to our Chinese home!  

... in-law offered us Shanxi's signature liquor, Fen , and kept a lively conservation with us. Half into the meal, Rui's wife and mother joined us. We had to rush through the meal as we must leave for Taiyuan airport to catch our flight to Xi'an. It was a three and a half hour drive. At the airport, we ...

... amusement before heading over to the ticket window. Happily for me yet rather strange was the fact that the entrance fee was still twenty Yuan. Could this be right? I wonder, how could this be? Did the lady give me back too much money? Inside the temple buildings the taking of photo's was strictly forbidden, so much so each building had a camera inside it. I'm sure in some dark ...

... In addition, the mountain peak protects it from rain and snow; and the mountain around it also diminishes damage from long-time sunshine. The second reason is that the builders followed a principle in Taoism: no noises, including those from rooster crowing and dog baying; so from the upper ground, all noises drop away. Mu Ta (Ancient Wooden Pagoda): Located in ...