RonnieAdventures: RonnieAdventure #0631 - Hanging Temple, Datong, China

Picture by Kolohe

To reach Hanging Temple in Datong, China, required a two-day trip from where we were at in Xi'An. We first had to travel to Beijing, stay one night, then travel to Datong the next day.

We checked into flying from Xi'An to Beijing, but learned that highspeed trains are the most popular way to travel between the two cities, and they cost a lot less than flying. There are 21 train departures each day and it takes about 5 hours to travel the 1,134 km (705 miles). We decided to take the highspeed train.

At various times during our trip, train speeds were displayed on a screen at the front of each passenger car. I only occasionally watched the screen and the fastest speed that I noticed was 304 km/hour (189 miles/hour). The trains are so smooth and quiet that is seemed like we were only traveling 50-60 miles/hour. Each tickets cost about $80 US (580 Chinese Yuan).

While we were in China, the Exchange rate was 7.3 Chinese Yuan per 1 US dollar. Heather told us that on her previous visits to China, most merchants wanted US dollars and would sometimes discount prices for new, crisp $20 bills. On this trip, however, we did not find any merchants that would even take US currency. And, at one place, they would not take US credit cards! Maybe they know something about the US economy that we don't know.

Picture by Heather

Below Sign Translation: "May Our Motherland Be Prosperous. Looking Forward to World Peace and Prosperity."

Picture by Kolohe

From the Beijing Train Station we took a taxi to out hotel. Since many taxis in China are fairly small vehicles, I had to hold my suitcase and Kolohe had to hold her backpack in the backseat. Heather rode in the front passenger seat and Sophia got squashed in the middle of the backseat.

Picture by Heather

Picture by Kolohe

We stayed at the Beijing Marriott Hotel Northeast, which was very nice and had a robot maid that continually ran around the hotel cleaning floors. Sophia really liked her room -- it had a nice view and a large bathtub. Like the other hotels we stayed at during our trip, there was an elaborate breakfast buffet.

Picture by Kolohe

Picture by Heather

Picture by Kolohe

In the evening we went for a walk and stopped at a local restaurant for dinner. I have never perfected my use of chopsticks and was really having a hard time trying to eat with chopsticks that had metal ends. Sophia finally explained that the bowl full of packets on the table contained wood ends that fit into the metal ends on the chopsticks. It worked better, but I still had a hard time using the chopsticks.

Picture by Kolohe

In the morning we rose early and went back to the train station for a 346 km (215 miles) trip to Datong. Train tickets were about 145 Yuan (US $20) for the 1 hour 45 minute trip.

On the way to Datong, the train went by some of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic sites.

Picture by Heather

Picture by Kolohe

Before we left Xi'An, we made arrangement for a local guide named "Peter" (English name) to meet us at the Datong Train Station and drive us to Hanging Temple. Peter had his own vehicle, so we did not have to hire a different driver.

Picture by Kolohe

Picture by Heather

Hanging Temple (also called Hanging Monastery or Xuankong Si) is located on Hengshan Mountain about 80 km (50 miles) from Datong. Hengshan Mountain is one of the five most scared mountains in China and Hanging Temple is considered to be "one of the world's forgotten wonders." It is the world's only hanging monastery and one of the few temples dedicated to teaching three different religions - Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.

The Temple is located on the wall of a remote canyon 75 m (245 feet) above the Tangyu River in a concave part of a vertical cliff. The cliff overhang protects the Temple from rain and falling rocks. It is unclear why the Temple was built at this location, but it may have been for protection from enemies and the Tangyu River that historically flooded the area.

Hanging Temple was built in 491 A.D. It has 40 rooms that are linked by a maze of passageways and held in place by 27 cantilever beams inserted deep into the cliff walls. The standing poles in front of the Temple were added in recent times to accommodate the increased number people visiting the temple. Peter said that tourist may soon be restricted from going inside of the Temple because the large number of people visiting the Temple may be causing structural damage to the buildings.

In 1969, the Hengshan Dam and Reservoir were constructed just upstream from the Temple for flood control and irrigation purposes along the Tangyu River.

On the day we visited Hanging Temple there was not a long line of people, so we were able to purchase tickets and just walk right in.

Picture by Heather

Picture by Kolohe

In the below picture, Hengshan Dam and Reservoir can be seen in the background. No water was being released from the dam on the day we visited the site.