Shanxi sponsors tourism festival
By Li Jing ( China Daily)
Updated: 2004-08-16 08:58

North China's Shanxi Province, dubbed as the "heritage museum of China," will hold the Fifth China Datong Yungang & Hengshan Tourism Festival in the city of Datong from August 18 to 28.

Located in the north of Shanxi Province, Datong is a 2,300-year-old city with a rich culture, and was the capital city of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534 AD) for almost a century.

One of Datong's most famous cultural relics is the Yungang Grottoes, listed as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2001.

Sixteen kilometres west of Datong, the Yungang Grottoes were hewn out of a cliffside in a honeycomb pattern 1,500 years ago, forming caverns that stretch for 1 kilometre.

There are 53 caverns housing 51,000 Buddhist statues remaining there, with the tallest statue being 17 metres high and the smallest only 2 centimetres.

Mount Hengshan, 60 kilometres south of Datong, is one of the five most famous mountains in China, and for the first time, the mountain is being included in this year's annual tourism festival.

There is a renowned temple, the Suspended Temple, lying on Mount Hengshan.

The temple has a history of more than 1,400 years. About 40 buildings are scattered halfway up the mountain on the cliff face or slopes, from 26 to 50 metres above the foot of the mountain and seem to be hanging in mid-air.

Zhang Diansheng, director of the Datong Tourism Bureau, said tourists can not only visit the grottoes and the mountain, but also many other historical places including the Nine-Dragon Screen, the Huayan Temple and sections of the ruins of the Great Wall.

Meanwhile, an awards ceremony on the design competition of a cultural heritage protection logo for China will be held at the opening day of the festival, said Zhang.

The winning logo will be used to mark cultural heritage sites and relics, especially permanent relics, in the country and in promotional campaigns emphasizing the protection of China's rich cultural heritage, according to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.