Datong

Datong
—  Prefecture-level city  —
大同
Chinese transcription(s)
- Simplified	大同
- Traditional
- Pinyin	Dàtóng
Location of Datong Prefecture within Shanxi
Country	China
Province	Shanxi
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)

Coordinates: 40°4′N 113°17′E / 40.067°N 113.283°E / 40.067; 113.283

Datong (Chinese: 大同; pinyin: Dàtóng) is a city in the northern Shanxi Province in China, and is located a few hundred kilometres west by rail from Beijing with an elevation of 1090 meters. It has a population of approximately 3.11 million.^[1]

History

Nine Dragon Screen

The town was founded as Píngchéng (平城) in 200 BC during the Han Dynasty. Located near the Great Wall Pass to Inner Mongolia it blossomed during the following period and became a stop-off point for Camel Caravans moving from China into Mongolia and beyond. It was sacked at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Pingcheng became the capital of Northern Wei from 398 AD until 494 AD. The famous Yungang Grottoes (云岗石窟 Yúngǎng Shíkù) were constructed during the later part of this period (460 – 494 AD).

The city was renamed Datong in 1048 AD and sacked again at the end of the Ming Dynasty (1649 AD), but promptly rebuilt in 1652 AD.

Tourism

The Hanging Temple.

Loess landscape near Hunyuan

The Yungang Grottoes, or Cloud Ridge Caves (云岗石窟 yún gǎng shí kù）are a collection of shallow caves located 16 km west of Datong. There are over 50,000 carved images and statues of Buddhas and Boddhisatvas within these grootes, ranging from 4 centimeters to 7 meters tall. Most of these icons are around 1000 years old.

Within the city itself, there are a few surviving sites of historical interest such as the Nine Dragon Screen (九龙壁 jiǔ lóng bì）, the Huayan Monastery（华严寺 huá yán sì）, and the Shanhua Temple（善化寺 shàn huà sì). Further afield is the Hanging Temple (悬空寺 xuán kong sì) built into a cliff face near Mount Heng. Most of the historical sites in this region date to the Tang and Ming dynasties, but the Hanging Temple dates to the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534).

The railway locomotive works (see below) began to attract increasing numbers of railway enthusiasts from the 1970s. When construction of steam locomotives was phased out, the authorities did not want to lose this valuable tourism market, and pondered the possibility of developing a steam railway operating centre as an attraction. A number of study visits were undertaken to the East Lancashire Railway at Bury, and a twinning arrangement was concluded with that town.

Economy

Datong railway station

The GDP per capita was ¥17,852 (US$2,570) per annum in 2008, ranked no. 242 among 659 Chinese cities. Coal mining is the dominant industry of Datong.Its history and development are very much linked to this commodity.

Development zones Datong Economic and Technological Development Zone

Due to its strategic position it is also an important distribution and warehousing center for Shanxi, Hebei and Inner Mongolia.China Briefing Business Guide

Datong is an old fashioned coal mining city in China, and still sits on significant reserves of this commodity. Consequently it has developed a reputation as one of China’s most polluted cities. The Datong Coal Mining Group is based here and is China’s third largest such enterprise. Datong is indeed however an emerging economy, as the city seeks to loosen its dependence on coal, introduce more environmentally friendly and efficient methods of extraction and move into other areas of business services. Local government has continued to upgrade its pillar coal sector (and related industries like coal chemicals, power and metallurgy), while also developing "substitute industries" such as machinery manufacturing, tourism and distribution, warehousing and logistics services. This has had some impact. Datong's GDP grew by 5.1 percent in 2008 to RMB56.6 billion. 2008 Datong Economy Report

While coal will continue to dominate, Datong has been identified as one of the key cities requiring redevelopment, with part of this being in environmental cleanup, rehabilitation and industrial refocusing. Datong is a pilot city for rehabilitation studies following years of pollution. To this end it has already struck up strong relationships with other cities worldwide with similar backgrounds, and has begun plans, for example, to develop a tourism base focused on steam engine technology with antique locomotives to be used along designated tracks.China Briefing Business Guide: Datong Economy

Datong has a large railway locomotive works, where the 'Aiming Higher' class of steam locomotive was built as late as the 1970s, possibly the last place that still constructs steam engines.

Transportaion

• China National Highway 208

Colleges and universities

• Datong University (大同大学)

Communication

South of Datong, there is at 39°56'43"N 113°15'7"E a VLF-transmitter of the Chinese Navy. The station has as interesting feature that 4 of its masts look like an inverted "V"-letter.

Twin towns

• Bury, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom

See also

• Jumenbu

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Datong

• China Briefing Business Report: Datong
• The Datong Report Main Page — Virtual walks, photographs and backgrounds on Datong City and Yungang Grottoes, Northern Shanxi by China Report.com.

v • d • e Shanxi Province History • Politics • Economy Prefecture-level cities Changzhi • Datong • Jincheng • Jinzhong • Linfen • Lüliang • Shuozhou • Taiyuan • Xinzhou • Yangquan • Yuncheng See also: List of Shanxi County-level divisions

Further reading

• China Briefing: Business Guide to Beijing and Northeast China (2nd ed.). 2008. http://shopping.china-briefing.com/. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.