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Shanxi: Datong to Pingyao – Route Guide

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Yungang grottoes Buddha — Shanxi: Datong to Pingyao
Photo: Steve Cadman from London, U.K. · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

China's attic, dusty and astonishing: 51,000 Buddhas carved into the Yungang cliffs, a monastery nailed halfway up a gorge wall, Wutai's sacred peaks, and Pingyao, the only Ming banking city to survive intact, walls and all. China invented paper money twice; the second time it happened here. Vinegar and knife-cut noodles fuel the distances.

Shanxi: Datong to Pingyao is a 380 km one-way journey (self-drive). It works best as 3–5 days; the plan below is the 4-day version for September, built from 144 verified places, with real road-routed transit times, opening hours and daylight checked.

3–5
days
380km
distance
4
Stops
144
curated stops

Plan your own version → 3-day plan · 4-day plan · 5-day plan · best time to go

The route

Datong & the Yungang Grottoes→ 130 kmMount Wutai→ 160 kmTaiyuan→ 90 kmPingyao

What you'll see

Yungang Grottoes
Stand before 51,000 Buddhist statues in these 1,500-year-old UNESCO-listed caves.
Datong & the Yungang Grottoes
Foguang Temple and Nanchan Temple
Witness some of China's oldest wooden structures in these temples.
Mount Wutai
Tianlongshan Grottoes
Admire fine Buddhist statues and decorations in these ancient caves.
Taiyuan
Zhenguo Temple
Visit this rare Five Dynasties Period temple, showcasing unique architectural heritage.
Pingyao
Heng Mountain
Experience the least religiously important of Taoism's 5 Sacred Mountains.
Datong & the Yungang Grottoes
Tǎyuàn Temple
Admire the serene white stupa, a symbol of Wǔtái Shān, at its center.
Mount Wutai
Jinci Temple
Stroll through ancient halls of this expansive ancestral temple.
Taiyuan
Shuanglin Temple
Admire over two thousand colorful, centuries-old Buddhist sculptures in this grand temple.
Pingyao

Choose your length

3-day plan16 stops · 11.4 h transit5.3 stops/day · 3.8 h transit/daySee the full plan →4-day plan22 stops · 12.4 h transit5.5 stops/day · 3.1 h transit/daySee the full plan →5-day plan29 stops · 13.1 h transit5.8 stops/day · 2.6 h transit/daySee the full plan →

When to go

Best months: September, October

The loess plateau at its clearest — grotto Buddhas in raking light, Wutai's temple ridges above the haze, and Pingyao's walls gold at sunset.

See the month-by-month breakdown →

Similar journeys

Plan your own version →