China - June 2002
Datong in Shanxi Provence
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After the conference was over we all got on the bus for some serious sightseeing. We took a 6 hour bus ride west to Shanxi Province, the next province over from Beijing. The Shanxi province is 150,000 square kilometers in area and with a population is 29.2 million. The eastern and western parts are hilly lands. And in the middle part, there are some basins. The hilly areas, plateaus and hilly lands occupy 72 percent. And the basins occupy 28 percent. Shanxi is the base of coal industry. Our first stop was Datong, the second largest city in the Shanxi province, located in the north near Inner Mongolia. Datong is the largest coal industrial base of China. It has an area of 2.1 thousand square kilometers and a population of 1.13 million. The central and southern parts of Datong are plains, the rest are mountains. Datong not only has coal, but also has other mineral deposits. The output of coal ranks the highest in China. Apart from the production of coal, machinery, power, and construction materials, Datong is also a major locomotive producer of China to make steam engines and power engines. The chief farm products include millet, corn, potatoes, flax, and beet. Even though Datong is now quite industrial, it was the capital of the
Northern Wei Dynasty (386AD - 494 AD). and as such, has some awesome
sights nearby. |
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In Datong, we visited temples like: Huayan Monastery
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Morgan is standing in front of the bell at the monastery. |
The Nine Dragon Screen. It is the largest screen of its type anywhere in China, which is 45.5 meters (150 feet) long, 8 meters (26 feet) high and 2.02 (6.6 feet) meters thick and consists of 426 pieces of glazed tiles. In ancient times, the screen served as a barrier both keeping passersby peeping into the house and making visitors tidy up themselves before meeting the hosts. |
 As the final part of the conference, there was a site visit to a thermoelectric plant |
 We also visited a local village and saw how the people lived. |
 Children in summer school. |
 The old school, now used as the preschool |
 The stove next to the bed heats the area under the bed in winter. Seems like a warm solution. In the poorer houses the bed stove would be used for cooking also. |
 Behind the half wall was a hole used as a toilet. Even though they had water coming into the houses, sewage was still handled outside. |
 Kids playing on the dirt street |
 Bye guys, it was neat meeting you.. |
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