Yungang Grottoes

2009 09 19 – Days 85 – near Datong

Not too far from Datong, but in the opposite direction to the Hanging Monastery, is one of the most famous ancient Buddhist sculpture sites in China, the UNESCO World Heritage listed Yungang Grottoes.

A couple of the grottoes had wooden temples constructed in front.

While the rest are vulnerable to the elements and display signs of significant weathering.

I'm sure weathering is not the only explanation for this Buddha's lack of nose and other surface detailing - looting and vandalism must have occurred at some point in its history.
The many small holes were to hold short sticks of wood that supported a coloured plaster surfacing, both now fallen away by fair means or foul.
A couple of the grottoes have kept some of their colour and detail:

And this Buddha retains his surfacing in the form of blue robes up to his waist:

Either side of him:

Our guide told us that, rather than having complex scaffolding, the sculptors would cut in through the cliff and sculpt the head before gradually working down the figure and then cutting the door. Aside from the practical nature of this approach, it results in an aesthetically and spiritually pleasing arrangement whereby a visitor walks in through a darkened doorway to stand, often in dim light, by Buddha's feet. From there, your gaze is naturally drawn upwards to the light, the main source of which is Buddha's serene visage bathed in the natural light entering through the upper cutting.

There are 252 grottoes spread along the site,

many of them quite small,

but some are pretty big and of impressive craftsmanship.

This is the best preserved face on one of the large Buddha sculptures and is an iconic tourism image in China.

Hanging Monastery

2009 09 19 – Days 85 – near Datong

One of three non-industrial reasons to stop in Datong, the Hanging Monastery is truly a fantastical sight.

Who would live on a cliff face like this?
Monks it would seem and not only those of a particular type as the Hanging Monastery has Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian elements.

The nearby trickle with pretensions of being a river must become a raging torrent with spring snow melt because some serious concrete channels had been constructed and our guide told us that the Monastery had been washed away a couple of times and rebuilt slightly higher up the cliff face.

Despite the place crawling with tourists, a well thought out one-way loop of a route enabled frustration free touring and appreciation of the vertiginous positioning.

Despite the simple wooden construction and sheer drops beside most walkways, the building felt stable, with a magical quality to the way it clung to the cliff.
Experiencing that stability while walking around it made the location seems slightly less ridiculous than when viewed from the valley floor.

One of the best preserved shrines.

Ceiling art, accompanied by an entirely necessary, but unnecessarily conspicuous smoke detector.

Is this really necessary!? Whether it should be there or not is debatable, but that it should be so conspicuous?