Day 1: Datong

We got up early in the morning and met our Australian friends, June and Lindsey, in the hotel lobby.  Since I am semi addicted with my"Fitbit" I found a set of stairs in the hotel and ran up and down several times to meet my daily goal. 

Then we drove due west for 3 hours to the city of Datong which is  only 60 km from the border of Mongolia.  We passed some of the oldest sections of the Great Wall which was built to keep the nomadic tribes of Mongolia out of China.  However it did not work because the Mongols invaded China several times including the conquest led by Genghis Khan and ruled parts or all of China more than once. 

The most famous trade route called the Silk Road passed right through this province and brought the Buddhist religion to China from India.  Today about 60% of the population of China are Buddhists.  

Before visiting the Buddhist caves we stopped for lunch and had our first Chinese beer.

Between 400 and 500 AD the Yungang Grottoes were carved out of the limestone mountains and are considered a UNESCO world heritage site. They are a masterpiece of early Chinese Buddhist cave art that represent the fusion of Buddhist art from India with Chinese culture.  There are 252 caves/ grottoes with 51,000 statues of Buddha ranging in size from 17 m to 2 cm. 

The wind and water has eroded many of the caves and so about 600 years ago the Chinese built wooden pagoda like fronts to protect some of the most important carvings.  

Some of the Buddhas were carved to include an aspect of the reigning emperor of the time. The position of the statue's hands would reflect the qualities of Peace, courage or wisdom. Many  of the carvings were once brightly coloured but they faded with time. 

The folded hands of the Buddha above represent peace. The long ears of the Buddha symbolize a long and good life so those of you with big ears consider yourself lucky. 

The hand position in the picture above indicates courage or " show no fear"

In the largest caves there were always 3 Buddhas.  The central and largest statue represented the present while the ones to the right and left represented the past and future. 

We spend the night here in Datong , see a hanging monastery tomorrow and then travel back to Beijing so it will be a long day. 

Donna