The restored Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) City Wall and Huayan Temple have become new tourism hot spots in Datong during the eight-day Golden Week holiday. The Golden Week holiday combines the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays and lasts from Sept 30 to Oct 7. Long-established tourism attractions, such as Yungang Grottoes and Hengshan Mountain, remain the biggest revenue earners.

The Ming Dynasty City Wall received 24,000 tourists on the first day of the Golden Week holiday, ranking fifth among the 37 tourism attractions under the supervision of the provincial government.

Tourists heading for Yungang Grottoes and Hengshan Mountain increased by 7.72 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively. While those visiting the Ming Dynasty City Wall and Huayan Temple jumped by 39.45 percent and 68.53 percent, respectively.

Roughly 265,000 overnight tourists came to Datong during the week-long holiday, an 18.12 percent increase over the previous year. The occupancy rate of star-rated hotel rooms reached 81.5 percent. “It is incredibly high,” said officials at the Datong Tourism Bureau. “Tourists rarely stayed overnight in Datong. They usually went to Wutai Mountain or Inner Mongolia immediately after visiting Yungang Grottoes. But now the restored Ming Dynasty City Wall and Huayan Temple bring more overnight tourists.”

The restoration project started in early 2008. So far, a 3.28-square-meter area in the old city has been put under protection and 10 rare cultural relics, including Huayan Temple, Shanhua Temple and Fahua Temple, have undergone comprehensive restoration.

The ancient Datong City Wall was built as a clay building in the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386-534), finally becoming what is seen today during the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-1644). It is 7,270 meters in total circumference and is shaped like a rectangle with slightly longer sides on the east and west.

Huayan Temple is located in the center of the ancient city area on the west side of Datong, Shanxi province. It was built during the Liao Dynasty (AD 907-1125) according to the Huayan Sutra Sect of the Huayan School. Visitors can appreciate the 31 statues from the Liao Dynasty preserved completely in the temple. One of the Buddhas, with chubby face and graceful body, is known as “Venus of the East”. Huayan Temple is among the first national cultural heritage sites under state-level protection.

Huayan Temple

City wall