Wall walk
About 7.3 km.
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A massive wall enclosing Datong's old town, built by the general Xu Da in 1372 at the start of the Ming dynasty on top of older Liao, Jin and Yuan ramparts; it runs about 7.3 kilometres around a town of 2.63 square kilometres, rises some 14 metres and is ringed by a moat about 10 metres wide. The town had four gates and withstood a long siege by Qing forces in 1649; in the 1950s most of its gates and facing were stripped away until the wall became mounds of earth, and it was rebuilt in full in a major project begun in 2008, with its towers, watch platforms and fortified gates. Visitors can walk the wall all the way round the town or ride electric carts and bicycles, looking down on the old town's rooftops, towers and temples, among them the Nine-Dragon Wall and the Grand Mosque, and the walls are lit in the evening. Going up the wall is free, with opening from 7:00 to 22:00; electric carts cost about CNY 15 and bicycles about CNY 10 an hour, per visitor guides. Sunset is the loveliest time.
About 7.3 km.
With their towers.
On the walls.
Around the old town, Pingcheng District, Datong
Yes, going up is free from 7:00 to 22:00, while electric carts and bicycles cost extra, per visitor guides.
Yes, the Grand Mosque on Jiulou Lane off Qingyuan Street; tradition says it was founded in 628, and its present buildings, from the Qing era, blend Chinese timber architecture with Arabic decoration; visits outside prayer times cost about CNY 12, per visitor guides, and Hui-run halal restaurants are nearby.
