Shanxi is the province most travellers skip and most China specialists return to. It was wealthy twice — first as the frontier region where Buddhism entered China from Central Asia, then in the Ming and Qing as the home of China's first banking system — and both periods left extraordinary buildings behind.
Datong#
A coal city near the Inner Mongolian border with two world-class sites nearby, 1 hour 40 minutes from Beijing by high-speed rail.
Yungang Grottoes#
¥120. 45 minutes west of the city. Carved between 460 and 525 CE by the Northern Wei, a dynasty of Xianbei origin, these 252 caves contain more than 51,000 Buddhist statues, including a 17 m seated Buddha in Cave 20 whose face is one of the great images of Chinese art.
The significance is stylistic as much as devotional: you can watch Gandharan and Central Asian conventions transform into recognisably Chinese ones as you move through the caves chronologically. Caves 5, 6, 9, 10, 12 and 20 are the essential ones; cave 6 in particular is a floor-to-ceiling narrative of the Buddha's life, still carrying traces of pigment.
Allow three hours. Go on a weekday.
Hanging Monastery (Xuankong Si)#
¥100 including the climb. Built into a cliff face 75 km southeast of Datong, supported on wooden beams driven into the rock, 50 m above the valley floor. Founded in the 6th century and rebuilt many times. It is small, the visit is quick, and the climb is on narrow wooden walkways — not for those uncomfortable with heights.
Notably, it enshrines Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian figures in the same building, which is unusual and revealing about Chinese religious practice.
Also in Datong#
Yingxian Wooden Pagoda — built in 1056 without nails, 67 m tall, the oldest and tallest wooden pagoda in the world. Around 70 km from Datong and usually combined with the Hanging Monastery.
Huayan Monastery and Shanhua Temple in the city itself contain Liao and Jin dynasty halls with original sculpture — among the oldest surviving timber buildings in China.
The old city of Datong was comprehensively rebuilt in the 2010s: new walls, new "ancient" streets. It is a reconstruction, and locals will tell you so.
Pingyao#
A complete walled Ming city, UNESCO-listed, roughly 100 km south of Taiyuan. Nearly 4,000 historic buildings survive inside a 6 km wall built in 1370, because Pingyao became poor in the 20th century and nobody could afford to demolish anything.
Ticket: ¥125, valid three days, covering the wall and more than 20 sites inside.
What to see:
- The city wall — walk the full 6 km circuit, or a section, for the roofscape
- Rishengchang — China's first piaohao, or draft bank, founded 1823. Pingyao merchants invented remittance banking and at one point controlled a majority of China's financial flows. The building is intact, including the vaults
- County Yamen — the magistrate's office, courtroom and jail, with a staged court performance
- City God Temple, Confucian Temple, and the many merchant courtyard houses
- Shuanglin Temple (¥35, 6 km away) — over 2,000 painted clay statues from the Song to Ming, arguably the finest sculpture collection in China and almost empty of visitors
- Zhenguo Temple — a 10th-century hall with original statuary
Pingyao is heavily commercialised on its two main streets and quiet everywhere else. Stay inside the walls in a converted courtyard inn; the atmosphere after the day-trippers leave is the point.
Wang Family Compound and Qiao Family Compound — enormous merchant estates 30–40 km away. The Qiao compound is where Raise the Red Lantern was filmed and is consequently busy; the Wang compound is four times larger and quieter.
Practicalities#
- Datong: 1h40 from Beijing by high-speed rail. One night is enough; two is comfortable.
- Pingyao: Pingyao Ancient City station is on the high-speed line — about 3 hours from Beijing, 3 hours from Xi'an, 45 minutes from Taiyuan. One or two nights.
- Combining: Beijing → Datong → Pingyao → Xi'an is a natural and rewarding route that adds two days to the classic itinerary and takes you completely off the standard track.
- Season: May, June, September and October. Shanxi winters are cold and dry, and air quality can be poor in winter.
Frequently asked questions#
Are the Yungang Grottoes worth visiting?#
Yes — they are among the finest Buddhist cave sculptures in the world, with 51,000 statues carved from 460 CE, and they show Central Asian artistic conventions turning into Chinese ones across a single site. They are also far less crowded than comparable attractions.
How do I get to Pingyao?#
Pingyao Ancient City station is on the high-speed rail network: about 3 hours from Beijing, 3 hours from Xi'an and 45 minutes from Taiyuan. The old city is a short taxi ride from the station.
How much is the Pingyao ticket?#
¥125, valid for three days, covering the city wall and more than twenty sites inside the walls including the Rishengchang bank and the county yamen. Shuanglin Temple outside the walls is a separate ¥35.
Is Pingyao touristy?#
The two main commercial streets are, heavily. The rest of the walled city is quiet, and the atmosphere improves markedly in the evening once day-trip groups have left — which is the argument for staying overnight in a courtyard inn inside the walls.
Is Datong worth a stop?#
Yes, for the Yungang Grottoes and the Hanging Monastery, both world-class and both under-visited. The city itself is unremarkable and its "old town" is a modern reconstruction, so one night is usually enough.