[Photo] Explore the ancient city of Datong, Shanxi province, China

Datong is the second largest city in Shanxi province, China. With more than 2,000 years of history, it was once the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), and has a unique and diverse culture. Sunday, March 2, 2025 - 11:07

Datong City There are many relics and scenic spots, of which the Yungang Grottoes are recognized by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage. However, when setting foot in this city, visitors cannot miss one of the cultural-historical relics that is more than a thousand years old, which is the ancient citadel of Dai Dong with many national, provincial and city-level relics such as: Hoa Nghiem Pagoda, Thuan Duong Palace, Drum Tower, Bell Tower, Nine Dragons Wall, Quan De Temple...

Dai Dong ancient citadel has an area of ​​3.28 km2, with gates in the four directions of east, west, south and north. The citadel wall is 14m high, the base of the citadel is 18m wide, the surface of the citadel is 12m wide, built with a mixture of limestone, crushed stone and fine sand, the outside is a layer of baked bricks. Above the citadel gate is a tower where archers shoot arrows; outside the citadel gate are two semicircular walls to increase defense capabilities, the outer ring is called Ung Thanh, the inner ring is called Nguyet Thanh.

As a fence area of ​​ancient feudal dynasties with a key military position, Dai Dong ancient citadel was built and arranged with many military defense works. Dai Dong ancient citadel has a perimeter of 7.24km, around the citadel wall there are 54 watchtowers.

The four corners of the wall above have towers, and defensive pillars are built outside, and at the foot of the wall is a deep moat. The ancient city of Datong has become a typical work in the history of ancient Chinese military architecture.

The way up the wall had steps for infantry and a path for cavalry.

Built in 1038, Hoa Nghiem Pagoda with more than 30 architectural works is a Liao-Jin pagoda complex that is relatively intact and recognized as a national 4A tourist attraction.

Architectures such as Pho Quang Minh Palace, Dai Hung Bao Palace, Hoa Nghiem Bao Thap in the pagoda are not only places for Buddhists to offer incense and worship Buddha, but also unique works of art that attract tourists to take photos and check-in.

The Huayan Pagoda is a typical architectural work inside the ancient city of Datong. This is the second largest wooden structure tower assembled entirely with mortise and tenon joints in China. The tower is 43.5m high, with 3 floors above ground and 2 basements.

In particular, under the Hoa Nghiem stupa is the largest bronze underground palace in China, with the highlight being the central tower chamber where the relics of a high monk of the feudal period are kept.

With 100 tons of pure copper, the underground palace looks magnificent and brilliant because every detail is made of copper.

Lotus symbol and dragon and cloud reliefs carved on the ceiling of the underground palace.

Inside the underground palace are worshiped more than 1,000 small Buddha statues, so it is also called "underground palace of a thousand Buddhas".

“Morning bells, afternoon drums” is the ancient way of using bells and drums to inform people inside and outside the city of the time of day, so ancient cities all built bell towers and drum towers in the central area of ​​the city. The bell tower in Dai Dong ancient city was built in 1372, consisting of 3 floors, 27.24m high. The top floor hangs a 3.3-ton bell with a diameter of 1.8m.

The Drum Tower was built around 1463-1464. It has 3 floors, 20m high, and has a drum on the upper floor.

A typical and unique architecture located in the center of Dai Dong ancient citadel, Tu Bai Lau is a cluster of four wooden gates facing the four directions of east, west, south and north, built around 1370 when renovating Dai Dong citadel to demonstrate the authority and merit of the new feudal dynasty. Tu Bai Lau was restored in its original form in 2012, each gate is 19.2m wide, 14.43m high, including a main gate in the middle and two small gates on the left and right.

The Grand Palace was a palace of a vassal king, built in 1392 on the foundation of the Imperial Academy of the Liao-Jin period and completed in 1396. The Grand Palace covers an area of ​​19,000 square meters with more than 20 palaces and 800 rooms, divided into the outer court and the inner palace. The outer court was where the court was held and important ceremonies of the vassal state were held; the inner palace was where the vassal king and his wife lived. The Grand Palace was destroyed in 1644 and restored in 2011, becoming one of the most complete and largest wooden structures in China.

The Nine Dragon Wall (9 Dragon Wall) in Datong City was built in 1392. It is now over 600 years old, 45.5m long, 8m high, 2m thick, and is the largest and oldest nine-dragon glass wall in China.

The main facade of the Nine Dragons is covered with 426 special five-color glazed tiles, creating a picture of nine dragons standing out against a background of mountains, rivers, flowers and grass. In front is a rectangular lake for the nine dragons to reflect on. When the water surface ripples, the image of the nine dragons seems to be playing with the clouds and wind in the high sky.

The Pure Yang Palace is the only Quanzhen Sect temple preserved to this day in Datong City, but the year of its construction is unknown. The Pure Yang Palace has three main shrines, worshiping Taoist figures such as: Yuanshi Tianzun, Lingbao Tianzun, Daode Tianzun, Lu Dongbin, Wang Chongyang, Qiu Shiji...

Source: https://baolangson.vn/anh-kham-pha-thanh-co-dai-dong-tinh-son-tay-trung-quoc-5039597.html