A six-or-so hour train ride from Zhengzhou brought me to Datong.
The trip involved leaving Henan province behind and heading north through the loess covered land of Shanxi province.

Along the way there was ample evidence of the depth of China’s commitment to green energy. A very large number of buildings were topped by either photovoltaic solar panels and/or hot water heat panels.
We even passed entire hillsides covered with photovoltaic panels!

My friend Jim and I had second class seats, which are about as narrow as a tourist class seat on an airplane, but have much more leg room! And China’s high speed trains have an even smoother ride than the excellent “AVE” trains in Spain.

We saw some of the sites of and near Datong the afternoon of our arrival, and got a chance to see much more the next day!
Here is a small selection of snapshots from that first day:

The hotel (Pipa Old Inn) I had selected is within the old walled city and takes its name from the traditional upright stringed “Pipa” as displayed in the statue.

One of the famous sights of Datong is actually over an hour outside town. It is the “Hanging Temple”.
The first time I saw a photo of this, I honestly thought it was a mock up on the theme of “What would a Chinese Mesa Verde look like”.