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Datong is situated in northern Shanxi Province. It is bordered by Inner Mongolia to the North and Hebei Province to the east. Covering an area of 14,176 square kilometers (5473 square miles), it is the second largest city in Shanxi Province with a population of 2.99 million.。。。。。。
The construction of the Yungang Grottoes was started under the auspices of the noted monk Tan Yao in 453 and took 50 years to complete. About 40,000 people, including the Buddhists from what is present Sri Lanka, contributed to the huge project. The art of the Yungang Grottoes may be considered a manifestation of a process of blending of cultures and religions, a process of giving a Chinese touch to Buddhist art that, at that time, was essentially Indian. Nowadays the Yungang Grottoes still boast over 1,100 shrines and niches of widely varying sizes and no less than 50,000 sculptures of Buddha and Bodhisattvas.
Mount Hengshan has been the place for Taoist activities for a long time. The legend has it that Zhang Guolao, one of the eight famous Taoist immortals in Chinese mythology, secluded himself and practiced Taoism right on the mountain. Mount Heng features beautiful scenery. Here, differently-shaped ridges and peaks, steep and precipitous cliffs, grotesque and fantastic caves, dense and verdant trees, wreathing and mysterious clouds, gurgling streams, and all kinds of singing birdsall are so fascinating.
The original buildings served in part as the imperial ancestral temples but were destroyed in a fire. Rebuilt 1122 on a large scale with several extensions added during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) giving us the present complex. The temple constructions in the Huayan Temple are on an east-west axis with the main halls facing to the east. The temple is divided into two parts, namely the Upper Huayan and Lower Huayan respectively, both of which got its own mountain gate and temple layout.
As a symbol of the ancient emperors of China, the dragons were depicted fighting and frolicking in the clouds above the blue sea. The Nine Dragon Screen was built more than six hundred years ago, and it is not only larger than the nine-dragon screen in Beijing Beihai Park, but also three hundred years older. The 45 meters long by 8 meters high glazed-brick structure has nine dragons sculptured in relief in five colors. The nine dragons are vividly portrayed as if flying in the air. Of the nine, the center dragon is considered to be the most impressive one, its glazed eyes staring fixedly off into the distance. Besides the Nine Dragon Screen, there are also a five dragon screen, a three dragon screen and a one dragon screen in the city.
First built in the late Northern Wei Dynasty in the 6th century and renovated three or four times since, the serried buildings of Hanging Temple look as though they are supported by a dozen or so slim wooden posts no more substantial than chopsticks. The monastery, seeming to cling half way up the cliff, is approached over a bridge and up a stone staircase that has been chiseled from the rock face. It contains a good, although small, collection of bronze & iron work, various collections of wood and stone carvings and some clay statues.
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