Secrets of Northern Shanxi | 2-Day Hongmen Temple Exploration, Ming Dynasty Great Wall Hike, and Datong Night Tour

Day 1 Beijing → Lierkou Great Wall → Datong

08:30

Exit Gongzhufen Station (Exit A) and walk 200 meters north. Meet and sign in at the entrance of Xinxing Hotel, then board the bus. Depart on time. During the bus ride, your tour leader will explain the itinerary and precautions, leading everyone in a lively interaction. Lunch is at your own expense at service areas along the way.

13:00

Arrive at the Datong Great Wall Museum and follow the tour to learn about the history of the Ming Great Wall.

After the tour, the tour leader will help everyone warm up and get ready to start today's itinerary; starting from [Zhangzhongkou], we will walk along the remains of the "Cool Great Wall", accompanied by flowers all over the mountain, and observe the reed layers on the rammed earth walls up close. We will pass through the well-preserved "Wall Pier" and feel the intersection of time and space of "one step across a thousand years".

Photography experts showed off their skills, arranging group photos, friendship photos, individual photos, and concave poses~

5:30 PM

Arriving at the Baiyangkou Great Wall, the tour leader took everyone to stretch and then drove to Datong.

7:30 PM

After arriving at Datong Hotel and checking in, you can go to Datong Ancient City on your own to enjoy the night view of the ancient city and taste the ancient city’s delicacies.

Driving distance: 380 kilometers, about 6 hours

Hiking: about 9 kilometers, climbing about 200 meters, about 4 hours

Day 2 Datong → Datong Volcanoes → Hongmen Temple Ruins → Beijing

08:00

After breakfast, we'll depart for the Datong Volcanic Cluster, a prominent representative of China's Quaternary volcanic clusters, developed on the Loess Plateau. Thirty-two volcanic cones, forming various types of volcanoes, including shield volcanoes, dome volcanoes, and stratovolcanoes, record three eruptions between 800,000 and 100,000 years ago.

09:00

Arrive at the Datong Volcanic Cluster and stroll along the wooden plank path of Langwo Mountain, the largest volcano in the Datong Volcanic Cluster and considered the core scenic area of ​​the group. Strolling along the plank path along the ridge of Langwo Mountain, you'll be able to take in the surrounding volcanic piles of varying sizes and get a close-up look at the volcanic section you just hiked.

11:30

Go to the restaurant for lunch. After lunch, go to the Hongmen Temple Ruins, where you can walk through the underground passages and visit the cave buildings layer by layer, looking for Qianlong stele and Ming Dynasty murals.

6:30 PM

Arrived in Beijing, waved goodbye, kissed goodbye with tears, and looked forward to meeting again next time~

Driving distance: 384 kilometers, about 5 hours

Hiking: about 3 kilometers of wooden plank road

Ruins of Hongmen Temple: Ruins of Hongmen Temple, this mysterious ancient temple embedded in the Sanggan River in Yanggao County, Datong, Shanxi, was built in the late Sui Dynasty and early Tang Dynasty, and has a history of more than 1,400 years.

Datong Great Wall Museum: More than just a showcase for bricks, stones, and artifacts, the Datong Great Wall Museum serves as a cultural repository for the spirit of the Great Wall. Witness the evolution of the Great Wall in a digital cinema, experience the warmth of history through interactive installations, and listen to residents of Lierkou Village recount stories of their ancestors' border defense efforts.

Datong Volcanic Group: This "geological temple" sealed by time is not only an epic of the Earth's billions of years of evolution, but also a witness to the coexistence of human civilization and nature.

Lierkou Great Wall: Lierkou Great Wall is backed by Erlang Mountain in the north and faces Sanggan River in the south. It is the core defense section of Datong Town, one of the "Nine Border Towns" of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall.

Datong Ancient City: Datong Ancient City is not a static pile of cultural relics, but a living epic of civilization.