4 days back roads from Beijing to Datong

Itinerary:

Day 1: Huanghua Great wall hiking, visit a rural village, stay overnight at 700 years old cockcrow town

Drive to an un-restored section of the ancient Great Wall built during the Ming dynasty 500 years ago. Locally called Huanghua Great wall, it has less tourists and a spectacular natural scenery. You will be able to go for a 2 hours walk on the ancient Great Wall and learn about its origin and history.

Stay overnight at CockCrow Post town, the Ming-period town is the largest of its kind in China, and the only surviving example of its era. Cockcrow is still inhabited with temples, offices, schools, and a wealth of courtyard houses, all surrounded by a massive rammed-earth-and-masonry town wall. We will wonder around in this small ancient town, walk back in history, open the door of the temples, climb up to the city walls, check some old houses. A local tour guide will explain us the history and local customs of the area. To finish the day off, we will stay overnight in this quiet ancient town.

Day 2: Yungang grottoes and boat on yellow river, stay overnight in the rural village

After Breakfast, you will be driven to the Yungang Grottoes, built 1500 years ago. With its 53 existing rock caves and having over 51,000 statues, Yungang Grottoes is a treasure house of ancient Buddhist art, the largest and best of these kinds in China. And best of all, unlike the others, all the Grottoes are open to the general public. The long stretch of caves was a masterpiece comparable to the ancient Egyptian pyramids, taking 40,000 workmen and five decades (453-493 AD) to finish most of its construction.

After a nice meal, we will embark on a 4 hour scenic ride to the yellow river, the second longest river in China, and where the 5000 years of Chinese civilization origins from. Once we get to the yellow river, we will cross the longest hanging bridge of Asia, then sit on a boat, cruise upstream to a remote village which is at the border of Inner Mongolia and Shanxi province. It has not changed much the past years.. We will see the real rural life of China; no electricity, no TV, teenagers who left school due to the poverty, stone age farming�� and also amazing scenery. Stood here for thousands of years, this area was unknown of by non-locals until some photographers recently ��discovered�� it.

Day 3 Hike along the yellow river and wooden pogada

Get up early, we will hike along the quiet yellow river downstream, with the stunning view of Yellow river gorge and paralleled ancient Great wall. The walking is about 4 hours, later we will be treated with a nice meal.

Drive to a Wooden Pagoda in the afternoon, the largest and oldest existing pagoda in China) at Yingxian County. We will take stairs up to the top, have a great view, meanwhile enjoy the amazing architecture skills, later spend our night at the foot of Hengshan, one of five Chinese holy mountains.

Day 4: Hanging Monastery and Hengshan mountain

Today consists of a visit to the magnificent Hanging Monastery (Xuankong si). With astonishing architecture, this monastery is influenced by different kinds of beliefs and ideas. This is no better highlighted than in the Three Religion Hall ( Sansheng dian) where Buddha, Confucius and Laotzu (Taoism founder) sit side by side.