October 24

It was a long day of travel.   We secured a hard sleeper; which meant we had a bunk (a "hard" bed) to stretch out (sort of) and snooze if preferred. 

The waiting area was crowded and as the time approached for the officials to open the gates, the crowd push forward with their boxes, bags and babies.   Once the narrow gates were opened the pushing started in earnest.  The ticket takers were only able to collect and punch the odd ticket (perhaps meant to be random) for passengers were all but crawling over the turnstiles. 

For the majority of our fellow passengers there was a reason for the push.  Inexpensive hard bench seats were on a first-come-first-get basis and it was going to be a long trip.

Those with hard and soft sleeper tickets had reservations for a numbered bed.  In hard sleeper "rooms" (no door) there are six bunk beds (stacked 3 on each side).  There is a little table below the window and a yet smaller shelf-like-table with flip down seats in the narrow hallway.

Below the "in-room table" is a holder with a large thermos.  During the trip the thermos can be filled with water from the coal burning boiler at the end of some cars.  The most popular things for its use are making tea and instant noodle bowls.

It was smoggy in Datong - the Datong area is China's largest coal producer. 

We met up with the rest of the tour group (Mariek, Anthony and Tommy, plus a few others)  at the CiTS office.  We all piled into a mini bus.  Sixty-five kilometres and approximately an hour later we arrived at the site of the Hanging Monastery located at the foot of Mount Heng (Hengshan), one of the five holy Taoist mountains of China.

The building of this monastery clutching precariously to the vertical rock face, began in 491 ... 1571 years ago.   Until recently, the distance was  100 meters between the monastery and the valley floor and river.   A dam, canal and silt have calmed the river and decreased the distance to half but those who have concerns about heights yet walk the narrow not-even-three-foot wide walkways with only knee high railings feel it's plenty high enough. 

Although the collection of rooms seem to "hang" and only be supported by long, very thin poles from below, in reality most of the structural support is furnished by unseen rock ledges and cantilevered wooden beams imbedded deeply into the cliff face. 

Because of the shape of the valley, the majority of winds miss the monastery and the overhang at the top of the sheer rock face acts as an umbrella.  The first monks selected their building site well.   The only thing they perhaps did not consider as an impact for the  structures longevity was the endless line of tourists who now walk upon the creaking structure.    We were fortunate for there were few people at the monastery on our arrival and we were able to wander along the skywalks and within the rooms at our leisure to better understand the solitude it's occupants must have experienced.

At one point several people from our little tour group stepped out onto a cantilevered terrace at the far end of the building group.  "You may not want so many there at one time," the guide said, "it leans."   They all hurried off.

Besides the location and the architecture the temple also is a rarity for its simultaneous acceptance of the practices of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.

At one point during our time at the monastery, Stephen was approached for an interview.  He was asked for his opinions of the monastery and his time in Datong.

After our group shared a prepared hot-pot lunch at the site's tourist area, we piled back in the mini-bus and headed to the Yungang Caves.