4 Days Datong and Pingyao Tour from Beijing

Your guide will meet you in the arrivals hall at Datong Yungang Airport. A comfortable private car (non-smoking) and experienced driver will be ready for your Datong and Pingyao trip.

Take a flight from Beijing to Datong

Visit the Datong Nine-Dragon Screen, which is the oldest and largest glazed screen in China. A screen wall is a traditional Chinese architectural feature, used for blocking the view from the front gate.

Next, we will explore Huayan Temple. It has the world's second largest wooden pagoda. Under the pagoda, there is an underground Thousand Buddha Palace, which is made of pure copper.

Then we will have lunch at a local restaurant. Your tour guide will assist you with ordering the dishes, so you can taste the most authentic local food.

After lunch, you will visit one of the biggest Buddhist grottoes in China — the Yungang Grottoes. We will arrange a battery cart at the attraction, so you can avoid the long walk between the grottoes and have more time to see the statues.

Transfer to your hotel after the tour and prepare for the next day's adventures.

Hotel options:
Garden Hotel
Yunzhong Traditional Courtyard

Your Knowledgeable guide will help you make the most out of Yungang Grottoes

After breakfast in your hotel, we will drive for 1½ hours to the Hanging Temple.

True to its name, the Hanging Temple is hanging on a cliff. Ancient people built this temple to store food and water for people who passed by, and accepted three major Chinese religions so that travelers following those religions could stay there.

Your guide will climb up to the temple with you and give the explanation including why people built this temple so high.

Then you will have lunch in a local restaurant. After the lunch, you will head to Yingxian Wooden Pagoda.

As a UNESCO site, Yingxian Wooden Pagoda is the oldest and tallest surviving wooden structure in China.

After visiting the pagoda, you will have a private transfer (about 4 hours) to Pingyao and check in at your hotel in Pingyao Ancient City. You will have the same guide and the same driver here.

Hotel options:
Hongshanyi Hotel
Yunjincheng Mansion

The Hanging Temple

The wooden Pagoda

Wake up in your traditional Chinese-style room. It's better to start your day at Pingyao Ancient City Wall. If you are a photographer, capturing a sunrise at Pingyao Ancient City Wall is a great chance to grasp the charm of the ancient area.

The core history of Pingyao Ancient City is the history of the Chinese banking system. The Rishengchang Former Bank was the first draft bank in China.

There, you will learn how the banking system was created and how it developed until the first bank was defunct.

Lunch will be arranged in a local restaurant where you will have a chance to learn making the traditional noodles.

After lunch, you will visit the The Armed Escort Company Museum. It was built to protect the tangible currency. The Museum shows how this special business was formed and how it was run, and also introduces the top 10 escort companies and top 10 guards — they were all kung fu masters.

Walk along Mingqing Street, which is the most prosperous area in the ancient city. The lanterns are all on at night and it is very lively there in the evening.

Your personal guide will be with you all the time when touring the ancient city. Your guide will be happy to show you any other building that you are interested and will also show you the place for a panorama of the city.

The courtyard in Pingyao

The local noodles

After breakfast in your hotel, your guide will be waiting for you in the lobby at the appointed time. You will explore the rich culture outside the ancient city wall. After driving for 10 minutes, you will visit the Shuanglin Temple first.

The Shuanglin Temple is considered to be the "unrestored glory" of Pingyao, and it has over 2,000 colored mud sculptures preserved under its humble-looking roofs. Every sculpture has its own face and expression, and each of them is a rare treasure.

Then you will drive in a southerly direction for 1 hour to the Wang Family Compound.

Lunch will be arranged in a local restaurant on the way — your tour guide will assist you with reading the menu and ordering the dishes, and you will taste the most authentic local food.

The Wang Family Compound is about 1½ hours from the ancient city. It is the former residence of the Wang family — a reputable official's family that lived there for over 300 years.

Its total area is about 25 hectares (62 acres), with 123 courtyards and 1,118 rooms. You will be impressed by the structure of the compound, which embody the different statuses of men and women, masters and servants.

The Wang Family Compound

The Shuanglin Temple

After your trip, your guide and driver will drive you to the train station. You will catch a bullet train back to Beijing.

Take the bullet train back to Beijing