DATONG

I went with some coworkers to the city of Datong a couple of weeks ago.  It was my first trip out of Beijing and also my first China train adventure.  I'm not a fan of Chinese train travel after this trip (grossest bathrooms ever)!  But luckily I had fabulous company and saw some fantastic sights.  Datong is about 6 hours Northwest of Beijing and is a coal mining city - 300 coal mines!  The air wasn't as bad as I thought it would be which was great and we had great weather the day we were there also.  Our tour guide said it had actually snowed there a couple of days before - crazy!  We went to go see the famous Hanging Monestary. It is a very old structure attached and built on a stone mountain.  We were told that the structure will probably be closed to tourists in a couple of years so I am glad I got to go.  After the monestary we drove back to Datong city and got to see the grottos filled with old Buddha sculptures and statues. It was extremely impressive - loved it!