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The Ming dynasty walled city of Pingyao Shanxi province is one of the best preserved imperial cities in China. It's heyday was the Ming and Qing dynasties when it was the financial capital of China. Later it became a poor backwater and without the resources to modernise has managed to remain little changed over time. In 1997 the city was listed as an UNESCO world heritage site. The city is now emerging from the past as host of the annual Pingyao International Photography Festival.
Datong is a bleak coal mining city west of Beijing home to over 2 million people. However, outside of Datong are two amazing sites to visit. Yungang caves are UNESCO recognised and contain over 50,000 Buddhist statues. The Hanging Monastery or Xuankong Si dates back 1,400 years and is built into the sheer cliffs of Jinglong Canyon. |
