Datong is the 2nd largest and northern most city of the Shanxi province in China. It was also the center for economics, politics and the military of ancient Northern China. It's no wonder that they have their own wall. The Datong City Wall, is a four sided construct protecting the "inner old city" inclusive of moats in some sections for added protection. Access to the top of the wall is free, you only need to show your ID at the "ticketing booth". Although many of the structures were closed (not sure if they were just not available to the public, seasonal or under renovations), there was one open that served burgers!
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| Temple Pagoda atop the Datong Great Wall | Entering the "Inner Old City" |
I was so excited to see the City Wall of Datong, because I didn't get a chance to make it to any section of the Great Wall of China, this wall will suffice, I thought! I have to tell you, even I was a bit disappointed at first because it looked so new (it's actually a total reconstruction)! Actually seeing the walls and structures my feelings of disappointment quickly faded. The closer I got the more in awe I was. By the time I was on top of the wall I had stopped caring that it was "newly" built. Man it feels awesome! The structures built on this wall are astounding. They even rent bikes so you can ride on the whole wall. They have solo bikes, tandem bikes, three seaters and a four wheeled pedal bike (we rented this one, you'll see it in the photos below). If we understood the people renting the bikes, it should only take an hour to ride around the city's walls. We took 2 hours and that included "speeding" along the last section. Maybe we shouldn't have messed around so much. For one section of the wall, we were greedy and wanted to see as much as possible so we zig zagged from one side of the wall to the other, squealing and laughing as we almost tipped over a few times. Here are some shots:
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As far as we could tell, some of the structures were guard houses, administration buildings, pagoda's and a temple or two. All are replica's of what was there before including the the cannons and a few statues of archers. The main gate, with it's holding area and passageways made for a formidable looking defense. The masonry is just incredible!
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The views from the wall, in my opinion were more thought provoking as opposed to the awe-inspiring architectural feats of the wall and structures atop the wall. The vantage point being on the wall really highlights the stark contrast between new and old, cultural differences, architectural differences and economical differences. It literally made me stop and think. Here's some images:
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To conclude this post on Datong's City Wall, here's a shot on our way back to the hotel:
If you plan on taking some night shots be advised that the surroundings (outside of the wall) are not well lit and most of the area is like a park. A few times we were startled because there were people beside us.
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Ray
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