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Datong is in northern Shanxi province, population
2,696,800. In the 5th century AD, the Tuoba, a Turikic-speaking people, succeeded in unifying all of northern China and forming
the Northern Wei dynasty. They made Datong their capital. Datong now is a successful, industrial center surrounded by
coal mining.
Datong's chief tourist attraction is the nearby Cloud
Ridge Caves, 16km west of Datong, next to the pass leading to Inner Mongolia. The caves contain over 50,000 Buddhist statues.
Various foreign influences can be seen in the caves: there are Persian and Byzantine weapons, Greek tridents, and images of
Indian Hindu gods Vishnu and Shiva. The Chinese style is reflected in the robust Bodhisattvas, dragons, and flying apsaras.
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