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Datong is a
prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province of China, province and above a Counties of the People's Republic of China, county in China's ...
in northern
Shanxi Province Shanxi; formerly romanised as Shansi is a province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi and Datong. Its one-character abbreviation is ( ...
, China. It is located in the
Datong Basin The Datong Basin () is located between the northern Shanxi Province and the inner/outer Great Walls, China. It occupies the western part of the Sanggan Basin, which has been created by the erosion of the Loess Plateau by the Sanggan River and its ...
at an elevation of and borders
Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...
to the north and west and
Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...
to the east. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 3,105,591 of whom 1,790,452 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of the 2 out 4 urban districts of
Pingcheng Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province, China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of ...
and Yungang as Yunzhou and Xinrong are not conurbated yet.


History

The area of present-day Datong was close to the
state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...
of Dai, which was conquered by the Zhao clan of Jin in 457 BC. It was a frontier land between the agricultural Chinese and the nomads of the
Great Steppe The Eurasian Steppe, also called the Great Steppe or The Steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, Siberia, Europe ...
. The area was well known for its trade in
horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 milli ...
. The area of present-day Datong eventually came under the control of the
Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...
, during which it was known as Pingcheng County (平城县) and formed part of the Qin
commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...
of
Yanmen Yanmen Pass, also known by its Chinese name Yanmenguan and as Xixingguan, is a mountain pass which includes three fortified gatehouses along the Great Wall of China. The area was a strategic choke point in ancient and medieval China, contro ...
. Pingcheng County continued under the
Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
, which founded a site within present-day Datong in 200BC following its victory against the Xiongnu nomads at the
Battle of Baideng The Battle of Baideng (白登之戰) was a military conflict between Han China and the Xiongnu in 200 BC. In an alternate account, GroussetRene Grousset, 'The Empire of the Steppes',1970/2008,page27, says that the Xiongnu invaded Chinese Shanxi a ...
. Located near a pass to Inner Mongolia along the
Great Wall The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand Li (unit), ''li'' long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection agains ...
, Pingcheng blossomed under Han rule and became a stop-off point for camel caravans moving from China into Mongolia and beyond. It was sacked at the end of the
Eastern Han The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
. Pingcheng became the capital of the Xianbei-founded
Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an Dynasties of China, impe ...
dynasty from AD398–494. The
Yungang Grottoes The Yungang Grottoes (), formerly the Wuzhoushan Grottoes (), are ancient Chinese Buddhist temple grottoes built during the Northern Wei dynasty near the city of Datong, then called Pingcheng, in the province of Shanxi. They are excellent exampl ...
were constructed during the later part of this period (460–494). During the mid to late 520s, Pingcheng was the seat of Northern Wei's
Dai Commandery Dai Commandery was a commandery (''jùn'') of the state of Zhao established BC and of northern imperial Chinese dynasties until the time of the Emperor Wen of the Sui dynasty (r. AD581–604). It occupied lands in what is now Hebei, Shanxi, ...
.. During the
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
, Datong became the seat of the Tang prefecture of Yunzhou, and the original Guandi temple was built. The city was renamed Datong in 1048. It was the Xijing ("Western Capital") of the Jurchen
Jin dynasty Jin may refer to: States Jìn 晉 * Jin (Chinese state) (晉國), major state of the Zhou dynasty, existing from the 11th century BC to 376 BC * Jin dynasty (266–420) (晉朝), also known as Liang Jin and Sima Jin * Jin (Later Tang precursor) ...
prior to being sacked by the
Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...
. Datong later came under the control of the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
, serving as an important Ming military stronghold against the Mongols to the north. During the Ming period, many of Datong's notable historical structures such as the Drum Tower and the Nine-Dragon Wall were built. Datong was sacked again at the end of the Ming in 1649, but promptly rebuilt in 1652. By 1982 a portion of its city walls remained so it became one of the National Famous Historical and Cultural Cities that year. Prior to 2008, about 100,000 people lived in the old city. In 2008 mayor Geng Yanbo decided to redevelop much of the inner city, with over being redeveloped, and with Geng becoming known as the "Demolition Mayor". Geng and his group anticipated that 30,000 to 50,000 people would remain in the old city. In 2013 Geng left his position. Su Jiede of ''
Sixth Tone ''Sixth Tone'' () is a Chinese state-owned English-language online magazine published by Shanghai United Media Group. Name ''Sixth Tones name relates to the number of tones in Mandarin Chinese, but also is stated to carry more metaphoric ...
'' wrote that much of the city was still under construction at the time and that Geng's efforts resulted in "a half-finished city center and a complicated legacy" and that "To critics, the city had spent enormous sums of money without much to show for it." By 2020 the population of the old city was below 30,000 and there were fewer governmental facilities available for the residents. That year Su stated that the old city "still presents a headache for the local government."


Demographics

Su Jiede wrote that since
Pingcheng District Pingcheng District (), formerly known as Chengqu () or Cheng District is a district of Datong, Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and lar ...
, which had most of its urbanized area, had 1,105,699 people as of 2020, "Datong is a small city by Chinese standards".


Geography

Datong is the northernmost city of Shanxi, and is located in the Datong Basin, with an administrative area spanning latitude 39° 03'–40° 44' N and longitude 112° 34'–114° 33' E. The urban area is surrounded on three sides by mountains, with passes only to the east and southwest. Within the prefecture-level city elevations generally increase from southeast to northwest. Datong borders
Ulanqab Ulanqab or Ulan Chab ( zh, s=乌兰察布, p=Wūlánchábù; ''Ulaɣančab qota-means in Mongolian Ulaan-red, Tsab/tsav is-hills''; Mongolian Cyrillic: Улаанцав хот) is a region administered as a prefecture-level city in south-centr ...
(
Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...
) to the northwest and
Zhangjiakou Zhangjiakou (), also known as Kalgan and by several other names, is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hebei province in Northern China, bordering Beijing to the southeast, Inner Mongolia to the north and west, and Shanxi to the southwest ...
(
Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...
) to the east,
Shuozhou Shuozhou is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the northwest. It is situated along the upper reaches of the Fen River. The prefecture as a whole has an area of about and, 2010 PRC Census, ...
(Shanxi) to the southwest, and
Xinzhou Xinzhou, ancient name Xiurong (), is a prefecture-level city occupying the north-central section of Shanxi Province in the People's Republic of China, bordering Hebei to the east, Shaanxi to the west, and Inner Mongolia to the northwest. As ...
(Shanxi) to the south. The well-known Datong Volcanic Arc lies nearby in the
Datong Basin The Datong Basin () is located between the northern Shanxi Province and the inner/outer Great Walls, China. It occupies the western part of the Sanggan Basin, which has been created by the erosion of the Loess Plateau by the Sanggan River and its ...
. It is west of
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
.


Climate

Datong has a
continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne * Continen ...
,
monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...
-influenced
steppe climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''BSk''), influenced by the + elevation, with rather long, cold, very dry winters, and very warm summers. Monthly mean temperatures range from in January to in July; the annual mean temperature is . Due to the aridity and elevation,
diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag, also known as thermal inertia, is an important factor in diur ...
is often large, averaging annually. There barely is any precipitation during winter, and more than of the annual precipitation occurs from June to September. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 54% in July to 66% in October, sunshine is abundant year-round, and the city receives 2,671 hours (about 60% of the possible total) of bright sunshine per year. Extremes since 1951 have ranged from on 16 December 2023 to on 29 July 2010.


Administrative divisions

*Defunct – Kuang District ( zh, s=矿区, p=Kuàngqū) is largely made up of separate mines throughout the metropolitan area.


Tourism

The
Yungang Grottoes The Yungang Grottoes (), formerly the Wuzhoushan Grottoes (), are ancient Chinese Buddhist temple grottoes built during the Northern Wei dynasty near the city of Datong, then called Pingcheng, in the province of Shanxi. They are excellent exampl ...
are a collection of shallow caves located west of Datong. There are over 50,000 carved images and statues of Buddhas and bodhisattvas within these grottoes, ranging from 4 centimeters to 7 meters tall. Most of these icons are around 1500 years old. Within the city itself, there are a few surviving sites of historical interest such as the
Nine-Dragon Wall A Nine-Dragon Wall or Nine-Dragon Screen () is a type of Spirit screen, screen wall with reliefs of nine different Chinese dragons. Such walls are typically found in imperial Chinese palaces and gardens. Early reference to the tradition of putti ...
, the Huayan Monastery, and the
Shanhua Temple Shanhua Temple () is a Buddhist temple located in Datong, Shanxi Province, China. The temple was first founded during the early 8th century of the Tang dynasty, but its earliest surviving building dates from the 11th century. The temple was heavil ...
. Further afield is the
Hanging Temple The Hanging Temple, also Hengshan Hanging Temple, Hanging Monastery or Xuankong Temple () is a temple built into a cliff ( above the ground) near Mount Heng in Hunyuan County, Datong City, Shanxi Province, China. The closest city is Datong, to ...
built into a cliff face near Mount Heng. Most of the historical sites in this region date to the Liao, Jin and Ming dynasties, but the Hanging Temple dates to the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534). The railway locomotive works (see below) began to attract increasing numbers of railway enthusiasts from the 1970s. When the construction of steam locomotives was phased out, the authorities did not want to lose this valuable tourism market, and pondered the possibility of developing a steam railway operating center as an attraction. A number of study visits were undertaken to the
East Lancashire Railway The East Lancashire Railway is a heritage railway line in North West England which runs between Heywood, Greater Manchester and Rawtenstall in Lancashire. There are intermediate stations at Bury Bolton Street, , Summerseat and Ramsbott ...
at Bury, and a twinning arrangement was concluded with that town. In 2010, work began on reconstructing the city's 14th century Ming dynasty defensive wall. The controversial reconstruction project was in its final phase at the end of 2014. The documentary '' The Chinese Mayor'' documents two years of vigorous and highly controversial (due to summary demolition of about 200,000 homes) effort by Mayor Geng Yanbo to push the reconstruction project forward. File:Xuankongsi.jpg, The
Hanging Temple The Hanging Temple, also Hengshan Hanging Temple, Hanging Monastery or Xuankong Temple () is a temple built into a cliff ( above the ground) near Mount Heng in Hunyuan County, Datong City, Shanxi Province, China. The closest city is Datong, to ...
File:Loess landscape china.jpg,
Loess A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits. A loess ...
landscape near
Hunyuan Hunyuan County is a county under the administration of Datong City, in the northeast of Shanxi province, China. History During the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history, present-day Hunyuan County formed part of the Baidi state of Dai t ...
File:Datong 06.JPG, A tower on the City Wall File:Pagoda Huayanmonastery Datong Shanxi.jpg, Pagoda at
Huayan Temple Huayan Temple (), may refer to: * Huayan Temple (Datong) Huayan Temple or Huayan Monastery () is a Buddhist temple located in Datong, Shanxi, China. Huayan Temple has been burned down and rebuilt several times. The Mahavira Hall and Buddhist Te ...
File:Datong Huayan Si 2013.08.29 09-37-05.jpg, Huayan Temple File:Datong Yungang Shiku 2013.08.29 14-24-22.jpg, Lingyan Temple at
Yungang Grottoes The Yungang Grottoes (), formerly the Wuzhoushan Grottoes (), are ancient Chinese Buddhist temple grottoes built during the Northern Wei dynasty near the city of Datong, then called Pingcheng, in the province of Shanxi. They are excellent exampl ...
File:Steps leading up to guard tower of Datong City Wall.jpg, Guard house on Datong City Wall


Culture

Datong is known for its
knife-cut noodles Knife-cut noodles (), also known as knife-sliced noodles or knife-shaved noodles in English, are a type of noodle in Chinese cuisine often associated with Shanxi province. As the name implies, unlike pulled noodles, they are prepared by thinly ...
and Shanxi mature vinegar.


Economy

The GDP per capita was ¥17,852 (US$2,570) per annum in 2008,
ranked A ranking is a relationship between a set of items, often recorded in a list, such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than", or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak ...
no. 242 among 659 Chinese cities.
Coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...
is the dominant industry of Datong. Its history and development are very much linked to this commodity. Development zones Datong Economic and Technological Development Zone Due to its strategic position, it is also an important distribution and warehousing center for Shanxi, Hebei and Inner Mongolia. Datong is an old fashioned coal mining city, and still sits on significant reserves of this commodity. Consequently, it has developed a reputation as one of China's most polluted cities. The Datong Coal Mining Group is based here and is China's third largest such enterprise. Datong is indeed however an emerging economy, as the city seeks to loosen its dependence on coal, introduce more environmentally friendly and efficient methods of extraction and move into other areas of business services. The local government has continued to upgrade its pillar coal sector (and related industries like coal chemicals, power and metallurgy), while also developing "substitute industries" such as machinery manufacturing, tourism and distribution, warehousing and logistics services. This has had some impact. Datong's GDP grew by 5.1 percent in 2008 to RMB56.6 billion. While coal will continue to dominate, Datong has been identified as one of the key cities requiring redevelopment, with part of this being in environmental cleanup, rehabilitation and industrial refocusing. Datong is a pilot city for rehabilitation studies following years of pollution. To this end it has already struck up strong relationships with other cities worldwide with similar backgrounds, and has begun plans, for example, to develop a tourism base focused on steam engine technology with antique locomotives to be used along designated tracks. Datong has a large railway locomotive works, the '
Datong locomotive factory CRRC Datong Co. Ltd. () is a Chinese railway locomotive manufacturing plant based in Datong, Shanxi, China, founded in 1953. The factory was a major producer of steam locomotives for the Chinese market up to 1988 when production switched to dies ...
', opened in 1954. The works are notable as the main producer (~4,689 of 4,717) of the QJ or 'Advance Forward' ( zh, s=前进, p=Qiánjìn) class of steam locomotive, built as late as 1988. Steam locomotive production ended in the late 1980s and the plant's main products (as of 2010) is mainline electric locomotives. The factory is currently owned by the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation Ltd.


Main enterprises

*Datong Coal Mine Group (The third biggest coal-mining enterprise in China) * Datong Electric Locomotive Co., Ltd, (DELC) (The second biggest Elec-Locomotive enterprise in China) *Shanxi Diesel Engine Industries Corporation, Ltd, CNGC *Shanxi Synthetic Rubber Group Co., Ltd, CNCC *GD Power Datong No.2 Power Plant *GD Power Datong Power Generation Co., Ltd *Shanxi Datang International Yungang Co-generation Co., Ltd. *China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Datong Gear CO., LTDchina national heavy duty truck group datong gear co ltd
Dcgroup.com.cn. Retrieved on 25 February 2014.


Transportation

*
China National Highway 109 China National Highway 109 connects Beijing with Lhasa. It runs westwards from Beijing via Datong, Yinchuan and Xining to Golmud before turning southwest to Lhasa. The portion of the highway from Xining to Lhasa is known as the Qinghai-Tibet Hig ...
*
China National Highway 208 China National Highway 208 (G208) runs from Erenhot, Inner Mongolia to Xichuan County, Henan province. It is 990 kilometres in length and runs south from Erenhot, via Shanxi towards Henan province. Route and distance See also * China National ...
*
G55 Erenhot–Guangzhou Expressway The Erenhot–Guangzhou Expressway ( zh, s=二连浩特—广州高速公路), designated as G55 and commonly referred to as the Erguang Expressway ( zh, s=二广高速公路) is an expressway that connects the cities of Erenhot, Inner Mongolia, a ...
* G5501 Datong Ring Expressway * Datong railway station and Datong South railway station * Datong Yungang Airport


Education


Colleges and universities

* Datong University ()


Major schools

* Datong No.1 Middle School () * Datong No.2 Middle School () * Datong Railway No. 1 Middle School () * Datong Locomotive Middle School () * Datong No.3 Middle School () * BeiYue Middle School () * Datong Experimental Secondary School () * The No.1 Middle School of DCMG (Datong Coal Mine Group) () * Datong No.14 Elementary School () * Datong No.18 Elementary School () * Datong Experimental Elementary School ()


See also

*
List of twin towns and sister cities in China This is a list of places in China which have standing links to local communities in other countries known as "Sister city, town twinning" (usually in Europe) or "sister cities" (usually in the rest of the world). A Anguo * Dongdaemun Distri ...
*
Jumenbu Jumenbu (), is a fortress of the Ming Great Wall Shanxi Section, located in Datong city in Shanxi province, China. Jumenbu is a fortress for guarding the Great Wall of China, and it is a part of the Great Wall defence system. Jumenbu is situated ...
* Datonglong


References


Citations


Bibliography

* .


Further reading

*Cotterell, Arthur (2008). ''The Imperial Capitals of China: An Inside View of the Celestial Empire''. Pimlico, London. .


External links


The Chinese Mayor
(documentary) on website International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) free to watch as embedded video (hosted on VIMEO) * * {{Authority control Cities in Shanxi Prefecture-level divisions of Shanxi National Famous Historical and Cultural City