DaTong - April 18, 2005

I am sure you were all in suspence....
Yes, we did get a room and could take a shower in the hotel upon arrival!
Then a quick breakfast, and on to Yungang Caves.
These are very similar to the Ajanta and Ellora caves we have seen in India - Budhist temples and monestaries with multiple HUGE Budha sculptures which are carved in the rock inside the caves. They too were created about the same time, about 500AD. It is extremely impressive to see these 20m tall Budhas, and all the thousands of smaller scupltures (many painted).

Talking to our guide, Mrs. Wong, about her life, was as interesting as her explanations about the caves. She is about our age. During the cultural revolution her father was arrested for 2 years as "capitalist", but then released and appointed mayor of Datong, as the government thought he would be powerful enough to contain bloody clashes (fighting mainly with tridents!) between two groups in the city (both loyal to Mao - we didn't quite get what they fought over). Indeed he was successful. However, she, at 16, like many others, was sent to Inner Mongolia for "re-education".
But unlike any story we ever heard or read, she enjoyed it, and even considers it the best time of her life (no school, life in the country, the Mongolians who taught them farming and horse sheparding treated them well) and she still goes there with her "tent-mates" (they lived in a half buried tent to be protected from the fierce weather) every year for reunion.
She wanted to stay there and drive tractors for a profession, but was then sent back, and since she was tall, was sent to study English and become a guide (yes, appearantly this was logical in someone's eyes).

She told us many other interesting things - appearnatly with the many changes and privatization of buisnesses there is no global health insurance for everyone anymore and many, like in the US, have nowhere to go for opeations and hospital care when they need to.

Then we went to lunch in the city's best restaurant. It was indeed excellent (almost as good as yesterday's dinner), but the highlight was the wedding which was taking place there at the same time. Judes asked to see the bride, and Mrs Wong, in characteristic extrovert and aggressive Chinese style, plowed through the guests and waiters, brought the bride and groom to meet us, pose for pictures, give us candies and have the wedding videoman tape us with them for posterity.

Exhasuted after the little sleep we got on the train we went to rest an hour, and then (luckily everything very near the hotel) to the "9 dragon wall", and two Budhist monestaries. It seems that while practicing any religion is allowed (only in the appropriate temples), noone with education wants to be a monk anymore, and on the other hand farmers and other uneducated people prefer it to their current lives. In short, these poeple are now responsible for the monestaries, which during communist care were well preserved, and are now deteriorating.

Just as we were done, the excellent weather of the day took a turn for the worse and we went to hide in the hotel.