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Potala Palace dominates the skyline of Lhasa and is much bigger and more spectacular in person than you might imagine. It is the top tourist and pilgrimage sight in Lhasa and tickets must be purchased in advanced. We jumped on the public bus for 2 stops and then jumped off to pass through the first…
Sera Monastery lies at the foot of Serowoze mountain on the northern outskirts of Lhasa and is part of the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded in 1419 by a disciple of Je Tsongkhapa and is one of the three major Gelug university monasteries in Tibet. The monastery is a large complex and…
Our first experience in Tibet was to visit a family home on the outskirts of Lhasa nearby the Sera monastery, to see what the life of a local family is like and to have a momo dumpling cooking class. We jumped on the public bus just opposite our hotel and paid the 10 Yuan (~15p)…
Lhasa is a city that conjures up exotic images of a far-away Himalayan kingdom. As we travelled from the train station to the old part of the city, we drove past the amazing Potala Palace, towering over the streets below and then turned into a maze of white-washed buildings, all with colorful trim around the…
For the next part of my journey I will be getting the overnight train from Beijing to Lhasa in Tibet. The Z21 train runs daily, departing from Beijing West Station and arrives in Lhasa 42 hours and 3,757km later. It is an epic journey, with 2 overnight sleeps on the train and fantastic scenery as…
Shuanglin Temple was a complete surprise to me. I hadn’t done any research into why we were visiting this particular temple or what made it special. All I knew was that it was on the itinerary to visit as part of my guided tour of Pingyao and that it had UNESCO World Heritage Status. But…
I saved the most interesting part of exploring Pingyao ancient city for its own deserved post. Pingyao is famed as the birthplace of modern Chinese banking, from the piaohao (draft banks) that emerged in the Qing dynasty to serve Shanxi’s wealthy merchants. At its peak in the 19th century Pingyao had over 20 major banks…
Pingyao is one of China’s best preserved ancient cities and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Located in central Shanxi Province it provides an immersive experience into what a prosperous Ming-Qing Dynasty period city looked like. As you pass through one of the four gates of the still-intact city walls, you enter another world, with…
The Xuankong Hanging Temple is a remarkable architectural and religious site that clings to the side of a cliff at Mount Heng Shan. It is from the late Northern Wei dynasty in the 5th century making it over 1500 years old. The temple hangs 60-75m above the gorge below and is shaped like a dragon.…
For centuries Datong was a frontier capital and fortress city. Most famously it was the capital of the Northern Wei dynasty in the 5th century before it was moved further south to Luoyang. Before it was the Northern Wei capital, in the Han period it was a military outpost protecting against Xiongnu nomads. In the…
The Datong Nine-Dragon Wall is pretty magnificent. And its even more so when you realise the size of the palace that it must have been the front door for! Located in the center of the ‘old town’ of Datong, the Nine-Dragon Wall was built in 1392 (Ming Dynasty) as part of Zhu Gui’s Palace and…
The Huayan Temple sits at the heart of the newly-reconstructed ‘old city’ of Datong. Most of the buildings within the broader temple complex are from the 21st century, rebuilt based on what was known to be there in past times. However, the Huayan Temple is original, built in 1038 during the Liao dynasty and renovated…
Datong is a small city in Northern Shanxi, around 350km west of Beijing, and it takes just under 2 hours to get here via high-speed train from Beijing North Station. It lies on the Loess Plateau at the border between the Mongolian steppe and the Chinese heartland, and has historically played a role as a…
I’m back in China and have a 6-week trip planned that will start and end in Beijing. First up I am going to head to Shanxi Province, west of Beijing, for 4 days, to visit the ancient cities of Datong and Pingyao. I will then join a small group tour heading to Tibet for 2…
Colette's Grand Detour 