Datong is a
prefecture-level city
A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure.
During the Republican era, many of China ...
in northern
Shanxi Province
Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level ...
in the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. 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 region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
to the north and west and
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...
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 and
Yungang as
Yunzhou and
Xinrong are not conurbated yet.
History
![Datong bell tower](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Datong_bell_tower.JPG)
The area of present-day Datong was close to the
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
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 simply 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 Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Transnistri ...
. The area was well known for its trade in
horses.
The area of present-day Datong eventually came under the control of the
Qin dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...
, during which it was known as Pingcheng County (平城县) and formed part of the
Qin Qin may refer to:
Dynasties and states
* Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China
* Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC
* Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...
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. Pingcheng County continued under the
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
, 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. Han Dynasty of China invaded the territory of the Xiongnu in 200 BC attempting to subjugate them. However the Xiongnu united their forces unde ...
. Located near a pass to Inner Mongolia along the
Great Wall
The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic groups ...
, 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 imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
. Pingcheng became the capital of the Xianbei-founded
Northern Wei dynasty from AD398–494. The
Yungang Grottoes
The Yungang Grottoes (), formerly the Wuzhoushan Grottoes (), are ancient Chinese Buddhist temple grottoes near the city of Datong in the province of Shanxi. They are excellent examples of rock-cut architecture and one of the three most famous anc ...
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, a ...
.
[.] During the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
, 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 prior to being sacked by the
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
. Datong later came under the control of the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
, 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 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 metaphorical meaning a ...
'' 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 (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region ...
, 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 (; mn, ''Ulaɣančab qota''; Mongolian cyrillic.Улаанцав хот) is a region administered as a prefecture-level city in south-central Inner Mongolia, China. Its administrative centre is in Jining District, which w ...
(Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
) 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 south ...
(Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...
) 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, in 2010, a pop ...
(Shanxi) to the southwest, and Xinzhou
Xinzhou, ancient name Xiurong (秀荣), 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 ...
(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 ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
.[
]
Climate
Datong has a continental
Continental may refer to:
Places
* Continent, the major landmasses of Earth
* Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US
* Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US
Arts and entertainment
* ''Continental'' ( ...
, monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...
-influenced steppe climate (Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''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 is an important factor in diurnal temperature variation: peak da ...
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.
Administrative divisions
*Defunct – Kuang District () 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 near the city of Datong in the province of Shanxi. They are excellent examples of rock-cut architecture and one of the three most famous anc ...
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 1000 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 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 putting a screen wa ...
, the Huayan Monastery (; ''Huáyán Sì''), 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 built into a cliff face near Mount Heng. Most of the historical sites in this region date to the Tang 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
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 Ramsbottom, with ...
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
File:Loess landscape china.jpg, Loess landscape near Hunyuan
File:Datong 06.JPG, A tower on the City Wall
File:Pagoda Huayanmonastery Datong Shanxi.jpg, Pagoda at Huayan Temple
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 near the city of Datong in the province of Shanxi. They are excellent examples of rock-cut architecture and one of the three most famous anc ...
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 ( zh, c=刀削麵, p=dāoxiāomiàn), 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 noo ...
.
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 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 order or total preorder of ...
no. 242 among 659 Chinese cities. Coal mining 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 'Datong locomotive factory
CRRC Datong Co. Ltd. () is a Chinese railway locomotive manufacturing plant based in Datong, Shanxi, China, founded 1953. The factory was a major producer of steam locomotives for the Chinese market up to 1988 when production switched to diesel p ...
', where the 'Aiming Higher' ( zh, s=前进, p=Qiánjìn) class of steam locomotive was built as late as the 1970s. Steam locomotive production ended in the late 1980s and the plant's main products (as of 2010) is mainline electric locomotives.
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 H ...
*G55 Erenhot–Guangzhou Expressway
The Erenhot–Guangzhou Expressway (), commonly referred to as the ''Erguang Expressway'' () is an expressway that connects the cities of Erenhot, Inner Mongolia, and Guangzhou, Guangdong. When fully complete, it will be in length.
Route
Inner M ...
* G5501 Datong Ring Expressway
* Datong railway station and Datong South railway station
*Datong Yungang Airport
Datong Yungang Airport () is an airport serving the city of Datong in Shanxi Province, China. It is located north of the town of Beijiazao in Datong County, 15.2 kilometers from the city center.
Construction of Datong Airport began in 2001 w ...
Education
Colleges and universities
* Datong University ()
Major schools
* Datong No.1 Middle School ()
* Datong No.2 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 "town twinning" (usually in Europe) or "sister cities" (usually in the rest of the world).
A
Anqing
* Calabasas, United States
* C ...
* Jumenbu
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