Posts Tagged "Datong"

• Feitian Hotel – Datong, China: Hostel Life

  China

  Ratings: 1 – 5 star each for…  The Vibe, Beds, Whereabouts, Staff, Cleanliness

  Feitian Hotel

  1 Zhanqian Jie

  Datong, China

  The Vibe: It was just a normal hotel vibe.  There are no hostels in Datong.  Free breakfast, though not that good.  2 out of 5.

  Beds: Probably the worst beds we have ever slept on, think wood board with some springs sticking in your back!!!  The pillows were like sacks of pinto beans!!  At least there was a warm blanket!!!  .5 stars.

  Whereabouts: Right by the train station and major public bus station!!  Internet café is right by and plenty of markets and restaurants!!  Probably the only thing it has going for it!!  4 stars!

  Staff: The staff was very nice.  No English spoken but used to dealing with it.  4 stars!!

  Cleanliness: The important thing was that the bathroom was clean.  The rug on the other hand clearly had not been vacuumed in a while.  Also, the hotel smelled a bit because smoking is permitted!! 3 Stars

  13.5 Stars out of 25!! If you are heading to Datong and need a place for a night or so this is not a bad gig.  It needs some improvements but all in all it was o.k.

  

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• Dirty Datong & The Buddhas: Episode Six

  China

  Buddha Caves

  
  

  Kinsey’s Guide to Better Living: Chapter 2: Do Not Go to Datong, China!

  Filth.  It’s the first thing that comes to mind when we think of Datong!!  Our first stop after Beijing, we came here to see the Yungang Caves.  There was trash everywhere!!  You could even see the pollution in the air.  When walking down the street we kept getting whiff after whiff of one nasty smell after another!!  Kinsey has a very sensitive nasal passage and can get migraines justfrom inhaling cigarette smoke.  While in Datong she was getting migraine after migraine probably due to the poor air quality and pollutants.  Don’t stay in Datong longer than is necessary, see the caves, which are worth it, and get out!!!

  Though the city was dirty and nasty, the people were remarkable.  To get to the Yungang Caves we had to take a number of public buses.  English was nonexistent so we had to resort to pointing in our guidebook and using our Mandarin/English phrasebook.   Not only did people want to help us but they also personally escorted us from bus to bus with one man even paying for our bus tickets.  The kindness and helpfulness exuding out of these people are like nothing we have seen in any other country we have been.  And we think the babies are the cutest EVER!!!!

  Datong must not get many western tourists because people were craning there necks and taking double the amount of pictures to get a glimpse of the two blue eyed freaks walking around their city and their caves!!  By the way, the caves were astounding!!! There are 252 caves with 51,000 Buddha statues from giant to tiny!!  All this work was started in AD 460 to boot!!  Holy Moley Cassaroley!!

  For more photos, check out our Flickr account!!

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