Datong Ancient City

Datong was the capital of the Northern Wei in the fifth century and a frontier garrison under the Ming, and from 2008 the city government undertook one of the most drastic heritage projects in China: rebuilding the entire Ming wall circuit, some seven kilometres of it, along with gate towers and large areas of the old city, displacing tens of thousands of residents and drawing sustained criticism from conservationists. What survives genuinely is significant: the Huayan Temple, with a Liao dynasty hall of 1038 and Jin-era painted figures; the Shanhua Temple, also Liao and Jin; and the Nine Dragon Screen of 1392, the oldest and largest glazed screen of its kind in China.

What you actually see

• The Nine Dragon Screen - the 1392 glazed wall, the oldest of its type.
• Huayan Temple - Liao and Jin halls with original painted sculpture.
• The rebuilt walls - seven kilometres of reconstructed Ming circuit and gates.
• Shanhua Temple - another surviving Liao and Jin complex in the old city.

When to go

May to October; Datong sits at over a thousand metres and winters are severely cold. The city is the base for Yungang and the Hanging Temple, both day trips. High-speed rail from Beijing makes a two-day visit straightforward.

Honest expectations

The city walls and much of the old town are recent reconstructions, not surviving fabric, and the demolition that preceded them was widely criticised. The genuinely old temples are small islands within it. Air quality is often poor.

Nearby

The Yungang Grottoes lie west; the Hanging Temple and Yingxian pagoda are south.