On to Datong, 2 and a bit hours from Beijing on the fast train, straight across the flat, flat plain. Frigid weather today, the snow still on the ground frozen solid so the wind can’t whip it anywhere. Immediately into the countryside. No sign of spring growth in the small well-tended fields or in the orchards, trees standing to attention in quiet rows, expertly pruned. Surprisingly few villages given how small the fields are. Sporadic graves in the fields, but more usually among the fruit trees, festooned with artificial holiday flowers. One or two farmers desultorily burning their chaff; A single farmer pushing his hoe, no sign of a truck, car or even a bike. Every now and then a small flock of sheep chewing up the straw shepherd headed hwo knows where. No industry to be seen. About every 20 minutes a small city with the usual complement of massive high rises. Inevitably too the new construction, ominously abandoned half-finished, the building materials stacked under tarps, the cranes covered in snow. We stop only once or twice.

The Vision of Geng Yanbo

Chapter 1: Let’s imagine for one moment its the early 2000s and everything is booming and you’ve been appointed mayor of one of these cities on this god forsaken plain within sniffing distance of Mongolia (not that you had any choice in the matter). Actually you’re already more famous than most – thanks to the mines you were anointed the most polluted city in China; all that’s left now is a crappy 1960s mining museum. But the new high speed train is actually going to stop here! So what’s your first move? (a) Immediately apply for a transfer (b) Immediately borrow 7 billion yuan so you can throw 100,000 people out of the decrepit ancient city, demolish all the remaining historic houses, recreate an ersatz theme park complete with fake city walls and market it to Beijingers as the nearest place for a romantic weekend away.

That was the vision of Datong’s mayor Geng Yang.

I actually forgot to take a picture of the new city walls and it seems appropriate that this is a stock photo from the internet.

Actually he had two visions, the striver boomtown across the river, seen in the distance, is going great guns, bilingual pre-ks, fancy supermarkets and all.

Back in the ‘ancient city’ everything is blinged up to the gills.

Even the mosque gets its moment in the sun, so to speak. There are fancy fake watch shops galore.

Chapter 2: There is some resistance to your vision. The people who were kicked out have something to say. Historians of the ancient city are especially miffed. Datong’s heyday was as Pincheng capital of the Wei Empire in the 400s, and strategically important on the Northern Silk Road as the gateway to trade with Mongolia. Any connection between these fancy new buildings, in the Ming and Qing style with Pincheng/Datong’s actual history exists purely in the fevered imagination of the Mayor.

The Datong museum would definitely like you to know it doesn’t buy into all this Ming/Qing nonsense

It’s all about the Silk Road

Still, the tourists from Beijing have, and you’ve spent a lot of money so let’s see…

My hotel’s contribution to the historic vibe is a collection of dinosaur eggs (more on this later) .

Chapter 3: You have spent a LOT of money. And more important you don’t seem to be paying it back. China being China, what to do with a dubious decision but to sweep it under the rug. You and your historic visions are quickly reassigned to the next biggish city along the trainline. Meanwhile back in Datong a new era emerges

Still plenty to knock down. This is now cynically ‘Empty Window time’. A saying that in Chinese describes the period in between relationships.

What’s left of the actual old houses and their actual inhabitants

Meanwhile back in the nouveau Ming neighborhood, these cranes are quiet too

But we are not here to marvel at how many gold shops can be crammed on a single shopping street, but rather to visit the famous Yungang grottoes. One of the three most important Buddhist grottoes in China (I saw the Moghao grottoes in Dunhuang last time, and I’ll be seeing the Longmen grottoes in Luyuang in a couple of days), the Yungang grottoes represent the easternmost reach of Buddhism from the Northern Silk Road. They were developed in the 400s, during the Wei dynasty when Pincheng/Datong flourished and comprise about 50 caves with thousands of Buddhas.

But the caves were carved in sandstone so there has been significant erosion both from the inside and outside.

And only one retains its protective wooden facade that can preserve it from the elements

Unlike Dunhuang where most of the caves were closed and we couldn’t even photograph the painstakingly constructed replicas, here we can traipse through willy nilly. And there’s plenty to see that gives us a clue to the Silk Road influences on these Buddhas

The exposed right shoulder shows the influence of the Ghandaran empire (India/Pakistan)

While the pearls are Parthian (Persian)

The inevitable 1o00 Buddha cave, of course this one has 10,000

But this is Chinese all the way

I wasn’t expecting this. Google translate helpfully explains there’s also a big Jurassic seam in the area, accounting for the Pipa hotel’s dinosaur egg collection no doubt.

Back in the ‘ancient city’ a rather lovely Buddhist temple. Although given your penchant for sprucing things up its hard to know what’s real and what’s reimagined, (This was the case too in all of ex-Soviet central Asia – basically all of Uzbekistan is a Soviet renovation).

A likely lad

But the Nine Dragon Screen at least is genuine. Only one of three in China, it is actually Ming era and decaying nicely in the elements

There are like 20 people here, and two of them are cosplayers.

They can barely manage a smile in the freezing wind. But they assure me they are wearing thermal underwear. I swear to God this is the last picture of cosplayers I’m going to take.

For those of you who want extra reading there is in fact a feted Documentary about Geng Yanbo, that won international awards. Apparently its available on Amazon. I don’t think my VPN will handle it, but it’s definitely bookmarked for later