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Datong and Luoyang are two great small cities famous for historical and cultural sites, and both of them are worth visiting. For tourists who have limited time and want to visit only one of them, you may be like to ask: Datong or Luoyang, which is better to visit. Here we will give you answers and specific analysis and contrast of them. Please don't miss this.
(Luoyang Longmen Grottoes)
| Datong | Luoyang | |
| Location | north of Shanxi, close to Beijing and Taiyuan | west of Henan, close to Xian and Zhengzhou |
| Tour days | 2-3 days | 2 days |
| Best time to visit | April to October | April to October |
| Best places to visit |
Longmen Grottoes White Horse Temple Luoyang City Wall Luoyang Museum Luoyang Peony Flower Exhibition |
Yungang Grottoes Nine Dragon Screen Wall Huayan Temple Hanging Temple Mount Hengshan |
| Highlights |
Buddhist culture Buddhist art stone carving ancient temple flower exhibition |
Buddhist culture Buddhist art stone carving ancient temple Chinese dragon culture Chinese architecture |
| Transportation |
Beijing → Datong Taiyuan → Datong |
Xian → Luoyang Zhengzhou → Luoyang |
| Tour package | Datong+Pingyao | Luoyang+Shaolin Temple |
► Choose Datong over Luoyang:
(Yungang Grottoes/Datong)
1. If you are interested in Chinese Dragon, please go Datong to see the exquisitely-carved Nine Dragon Screen Wall.
2. If you are in Beijing with a tight itinerary, Datong would be better for you to save time and distance.
3. If you want to know much about ancient Chinese building, Hanging Temple in Datong would be a great place to see a wooden temple hanging on a mountain cliff.
4. If you are into hiking, you could visit Mount Hengshan in Datong, and Mount Wutai close to Datong.
► Choose Luoyang over Datong:
1. If you are interested in Buddhist culture and Buddhist temple, head to Luoyang to see the earliest temple built in China for Buddhism.
2. If you are in Xian, Luoyang would be your better choice in location.
3. If you are in Luoyang, you could also go to Zhengzhou to visit Shaolin Temple and watch Kong fu performance.
► Best places to visit in Datong:
(Hanging Temple)
Yungang Grottoes. Yungang Grottoes, listed as one of the Great Four Grottoes in China, had been carved out a mountain from 460 BC to 524 BC, stretching 1000 meters from west to east. So far, it has 252 grottoes including 45 major grottoes, and over 51,000 stone sculptures existed. Yungang Grottoes is located in the south foot of Mount Wuzhou, 17 km away from Datong downtown, easy to reach.
Huayan Temple. Huayan Temple, a renowned temple in China, was a state temple to Liao Country and then Jin Country. It was first built in 1038 BC, and rebuilt for several times due to destroy made by wars. It is composed of over 30 buildings, and the main ones are Upper Huayan Temple, Lower Huanyan Temple, and Huayan Pogada.
Hanging Temple. Hanging Temple is an amazing temple, built with special method, thus, it hangs along a mountain cliff. Hanging Temple, a temple of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism, has 40 halls in all, stretching 32 meters from west to east.
Mount Hengshan. Mount Hengshan is among the top 10 famous mountains in China, and it is wonderful for mountain climbing and hiking.
► Best places to visit in Luoyang:
Longmen Grottoes. Longmen Grottoes, another famous Grottoes in China, was first carved from 493 BC ,and this big project lasted for over 400 years. Long Grottoes is bigger than Yungang Grottoes, and it consists of Xishan Grottoes and Dongshan Grottoes, with over 2000 grottoes, and 97,000 Buddhist sculptures. Moreover, the night view of Longmen Grottoes is gorgeous, great to see if you are interested.
White Horse Temple. White Horse Temple is the first official Buddhist temple, first built in 68 BC, and rebuilt in later years. It has Buddhist buildings of Chinese style and Thai style, pagoda, Buddhist sculptures, white horse sculptures, and many scriptures.
Luoyang Museum. Luoyang Museum displays plenty of relics and precious items unearthed, and it has 5 great collections, only exhibited in here and famous in the world. Luoyang City Wall is the ancient wall built to protect this city, and you could go to the top and have a great view of Luoyang city, and hang around inside the city wall and taste local delicious food.
Luoyang Peony Flower Exhibition. Peony is the city flower, with a long history in Luoyang, and In April, Luoyang holds a big peony flower exhibition, which is beautiful to see.
► Best time to visit Datong: from April to October
(Huayan Temple/Datong)
Datong is famous for its historical and cultural sites, and sightseeing in Datong is less affected by weather. Datong is in the north of China, and in winter, it snows a lot and the temperature is very cold. Most tourists don't want to visit Datong in winter.
Datong weather. Datong has hot summer and cold winter, with an average annul temperature of 5.8 ℃. It has short spring and autumn, and long winter with heavy snow. From October, the temperature falls down to 15 ℃ and lower, which could be a bit cold, and in December, the lowest temperature would be below -15 ℃, while in April, the temperature will climb to 15 ℃ and higher. In Summer, the highest temperature is about 30 ℃- 33 ℃.
►Best time to visit Luoyang: from April to October
(White Horse Temple/Luoyang)
Luoyang has attracted plenty of tourists to come every year, and it has 2 peaks in April, May, September and October. April and May are great time to see peony flower in Luoyang, and September and October have comfortable weather for sightseeing.
Luoyang weather. Just like Datong, Luoyang has hot summer and cold winter. In winter, the weather would be cold, and it may have light snow. In summer, Luoyang has hot sunny days and also rainy days, with temperature from 22 ℃ to 35 ℃. The temperature falls little by little from July and in November, it comes to 15 ℃ and in December, it would be lower than 10℃. In the end of March, the temperature will rise to 15℃, and continue to rise in next few months, and reach the peak in July.
►Datong Location & Transportation
Datong is located in the north of Shanxi province, about 350 km from Beijing and 270 km from Taiyuan. Datong has 2 railway stations and 1 airport for passengers.
Fly to Datong or take train to Datong from Beijing or Taiyuan. Tourists usually go to Datong from Beijing, Taiyuan and Pingyao. From Beijing to Datong, it takes about 6 hours by train and only 1 hour by flight. From Taiyuan to Datong, it takes about 2.5 hours by the fastest train and 55 min by flight. From Pingyao to Datong, it takes about 6.5 hours by train.
How to get to Yungang Grottoes from Datong downtown? You could go to Datong Railway Station, and take the tourist bus No. 603 from Datong Railway Station directly to Yungang Grottoes. The bus shuttles between the train station and Yungang Grottoes from 07:00 AM to 18:00 PM, and it takes about 1 hours and costs 3 yuan.
►Luoyang Location & Transportation
Luoyang is located in the west of Henan province, about 360 km from Xian and 130 km from Zhengzhou. Luoyang has 2 railway stations, Luoyang Railway Station and Luoyang Longmen Railway Station, and it also has 1 airport. Luoyang Longmen Railway Station is close to Longmen Grottoes, only 10 min by driving.
Flight or train to Luoyang from Xian or Zhengzhou. Most tourists would like to take train to Luoyang from Xian or Zhengzhou. From Xian to Luoyang, it takes 1.5 hours by high speed train. From Zhengzhou to Luoyang, it takes only 0.5 hours by high speed train, and 1.5 hours by fast train. From Shaolin Temple to Luoyang, you could take bus at Shaolin Temple to Luoyang Railway Station.
How to get to Longmen Grottoes from Luoyang? Tourists could take bus No. 81 from Luoyang Railway Station directly to Longmen Grottoes, about 1 hour of driving. From Luoyang Longmen Railway Station to Longmen Grottoes, you could take bus No. 7, about 15 min of driving.
(Nine Dragon Screen Wall/Datong)
►Datong tour packages and itineraries
Datong tour pacakges. Considering Datong's location, you could have 2-3 days Datong tour, or combine Datong tours with Beijing, Mount wutai, Taiyuan, and Pingyao. Here we have 2 well-designed tour packages for you:
5 Days Datong and Mt. Wutai Tour
6 Days Datong, Pingyao and Taiyuan Tour
Datong tour itineraries. Must-visit attractions in Datong are Nine Dragon Screen Wall, Huayan Temple, Yungang Grottoes, Hanging Temple, Mount Hengshan, and you could plan a 2 days Datong tour, like this:
Day 1(west route): Nine Dragon Screen Wall( Datong downtown), Huayan Temple, Yungang Grottoes.
Day 2(southeast route): Hanging Temple, Mount Hengshan.
►Luoyang tour packages and itineraries
(Luoyang City Wall)
For travelling in Luoyang, you could make a 1 day tour or a 2 days Luoyang tour. Moreover, you could also make a package including Luoyang with Xian and Zhengzhou. Luoyang and Shaolin Temple are the classic tour in Henan province, and here we have a tour package for you:
4 Days Luoyang and Shaolin Temple Tour
Luoyang tour itineraries. Places you should not miss in Luoyang are Longmen Grottoes, White Horse Temple, Luoyang City Wall, Luoyang Museum, and Luoyang Peony Flower Exhibition. You could arrange 1 day or 2 days for these places according to your preference. And here we have an itinerary for you:
Day 1: Longmen Grottoes, White Horse Temple, Luoyang City Wall
Day 2: Luoyang Museum, and Luoyang Peony Flower Exhibition
Day 3: Luoyang to Shaolin Temple
The above we have made a contrast of Datong and Luoyang for you from several important aspects, and you surely know Datong and Luoyang which is better to visit. At here we also recommend 2 great China tour packages:
If you are interested in any China tour, please feel free to contact us and make an inquiry.
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