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Photo by Zhangzhugang, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Best time to visit Datong
China · East Asia
All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.
The year in Datong
Tap a month for its page
- JanJDatong in January: avoid
- FebFDatong in February: avoid
- MarMDatong in March: good
- AprADatong in April: sweet spot
- MayMDatong in May: sweet spot
- JunJDatong in June: sweet spot, busy
- JulJDatong in July: good, busy
- AugADatong in August: good, busy
- SepSDatong in September: sweet spot
- OctODatong in October: good, busy
- NovNDatong in November: avoid
- DecDDatong in December: avoid
- Sweet spot
- Good
- OK
- Avoid
- Busy
Plan this trip
Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too.
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Flights from
Flights
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Where are you flying from? Choose your city for its flights.
Book with the airline
Where to stay
Book direct
Luxury
Things to do
Car hire
Rent direct
Travel insurance
Check whether your bank card or home insurance already covers this trip.
If the trip needs a visa, the travel agent or visa centre usually sells the cover it asks for.
Mobile data (eSIM)
Your own plan's EU roaming may already cover this.
Renting a pocket Wi-Fi is the other common way to stay connected.
These are sites people in book with. Each opens in a new tab, on the site's own pages.
Month by month
| Month | Max °C | Rain days | Humidity | Sun h/day | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | -2° | 1d | 42% | 8.4h | avoid | bitter cold: -2C daily max |
| Feb | 2° | 1d | 37% | 9.1h | avoid | bitter cold: 2C daily max |
| Mar | 10° | 3d | 40% | 9.6h | good | 10C max, 3 rainy days |
| Apr | 17° | 4d | 39% | 9.8h | sweet spot | 17C max, 4 rainy days |
| May | 23° | 4d | 39% | 10.1h | sweet spot | 23C max, 4 rainy days |
| Jun | 28° | 5d | 46% | 10.8h | sweet spot busy | busier than usual |
| Jul | 28° | 8d | 64% | 10.1h | goodbusy | busier than usual |
| Aug | 26° | 8d | 68% | 10.0h | goodbusy | busier than usual |
| Sep | 22° | 6d | 61% | 9.4h | sweet spot | 22C max, 6 rainy days |
| Oct | 14° | 4d | 55% | 8.4h | goodbusy | holidays: CN: National Day; CN: National Day (observed) |
| Nov | 6° | 1d | 47% | 8.1h | avoid | bitter cold: 6C daily max |
| Dec | -2° | 0d | 42% | 8.3h | avoid | bitter cold: -2C daily max |
Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.
Weather read at the walled old town, by the Drum Tower, 16 km from the airport (DAT): ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.
A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.
How busy it gets
Then and now
Datong's March days now average 10.2°C, 3.5°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 8 of 12 months are clearly warmer.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–90 | -3.3° | 0.1° | 6.7° | 15.3° | 22.5° | 26.2° | 27.2° | 25.3° | 20.8° | 14.6° | 4.9° | -2.1° |
| 2017–26 | -1.6° | 2.3° | 10.2° | 17.2° | 23.5° | 27.5° | 28.3° | 26.2° | 22.0° | 14.0° | 5.8° | -1.9° |
| Change | +1.7° | +2.2° | +3.5° | +1.9° | +1.0° | +1.4° | +1.1° | +0.9° | +1.2° | -0.7° | +0.9° | +0.2° |
The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.
Getting there
Fly into Beijing (PEK), then drive. The flights under Where to book are to Beijing.
| Beijing (PEK) | the drive is not measured yet |
|---|---|
| Datong (DAT) | the drive is not measured yet |
The drive from each airport is the road's, from openrouteservice.org by HeiGIT: typical, not a schedule.
How far Datong is depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.
Open in Rome2rio for every way from to Datong, flying or not.
Before you go
Type A and C and I plugs at 220 V. Drives on the right. The currency is the Renminbi. No UK Foreign Office advice against travel. Global Affairs Canada: Exercise a high degree of caution (with regional advisories). US State Department: Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution. Everything for China: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.
Being there
On arrival
- Paying — Most payments are made by phone with Alipay or WeChat Pay: link a Visa, Mastercard or other foreign card to either app, then scan the shop's QR code. Many hotels and larger shops take foreign cards, but many places do not, so carry some yuan in case the apps fail you.
- UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
- Tipping — Not expected in most restaurants and hotels, or in taxis; bars and cafeterias in hotels, and some other restaurants and bars, may add a 10-15% service charge.
Getting around Datong
- Apps — Rides: DiDi, Amap. Maps: Amap, Baidu Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: WeChat. Google and WhatsApp are blocked in mainland China, as are Facebook, YouTube and X; WeChat, Alipay and DiDi all work in English.
Buses run frequently within Datong and cost ¥1 per ride (2026). The bus system can be navigated in English using the Amap map app on your phone. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Datong, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Help
- Emergency — police 110 · ambulance 120 · fire 119. Traffic police are on 122.
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.
Your embassy — : how to reach your embassy or consulate abroad. A guess from your city, : a city is not a passport.
Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 7 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.
Sources (27)
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/china/getting-help
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/china/safety-and-security
- travel.gc.ca/destinations/china
- auswaertiges-amt.de/de/service/laender/china-node/chinasicherheit-200466
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-PaymentsInShanghai/20260920/f22b7e0f606c407e9da9d26b089eac48.html
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-PaymentMethods/20240313/6f4e58272f1a4cea9aec59c518915bdf.html
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-UsefulApps/20231214/3cac2d8cc7f847da92a72252bae06705.html
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-Latest-WhatsNew/20250627/d8f21f2e7d3b45a5b03757e35039b806.html
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-Latest-WhatsNew/20250614/a5c7bac93f024324ace770d3275d28b6.html
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-CIIE2025Service-Transport/20251017/c6c5ca124ee74e92a37244280c0983b9.html
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-Latest-WhatsNew/20240417/0444aa1c2f114f7eb66a0341b603bbbc.html
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-Latest-WhatsNew/20250711/8f2fcf3c6b624a56a6b2c0d8152ea2f2.html
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-FAQs-LivinginShanghai/20231214/6e73c9e64a174827beeb9b588af1255d.html
- english.beijing.gov.cn/latest/specials/essentialtipsfornewarrivals/transportation/202408/t20240830_3785706.html
- english.beijing.gov.cn/latest/news/202506/t20250616_4114250.html
- english.beijing.gov.cn/contactus/faqs/list/202602/t20260209_4502729.html
- english.beijing.gov.cn/livinginbeijing/transportation/beijingsubway/202409/t20240914_3891497.html
- english.beijing.gov.cn/consuminginbeijing/news/202410/t20241016_3921355.html
- english.visitbeijing.com.cn/article/47ONhboe35K
- apps.apple.com/us/app/didi-china-ride-hailing/id554499054
- apps.apple.com/us/app/amap-global/id461703208
- en.prnasia.com/releases/apac/tencent-announces-2026-second-quarter-results-543788.shtml
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WeChat
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/China
- apple.com/ios/feature-availability
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2286608
- rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/AnnualReport/PDFs/09PAYMENT290526C6588B796E664822A2BD0DEB6452CAD4.PDF
Datong in pictures
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Marcin Białek, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Marcin Białek, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Charlie fong, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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A Chinese ID, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What Datong is like
Datong (大同 Dàtóng) is a city in northern Shanxi Province, China. A former frontier town and Northern Wei capital, it is best known for the Yungang Grottoes and the Hanging Monastery, as well as numerous religious sites in its redeveloped Ancient City center. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth seeing
- The star attractions of Datong, namely the Yungang Grottoes and the Hanging Monastery, lie outside the city proper. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth doing
- Children's Park (儿童公园), Yingbin Street/Yunzhong Street Crossing. A large park with many family attractions. More on Wikivoyage
- Getting in
- Datong Yungang Airport (DAT IATA) (18 km outside the city). Flights primarily from southern Chinese cities, Hong Kong, and Bangkok. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Datong, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.
Around Datong
Also in China
- Beijing best Apr, May, Jun
- Chengdu best Apr, May, Jun
- Chongqing best Mar, Apr, Jun
- Dali best Mar, May, Jun
- Dalian best Apr, Jun, Jul
- Guilin and Yangshuo best Oct, Nov, Dec
- Hangzhou best Mar, Apr, May
- Harbin best Apr, May, Jun
- Kashgar best Mar, Apr, Jun
- Kunming best Feb, Mar, Apr
- Lhasa best Apr, Jun, Oct
- Lijiang best Mar, Apr, Nov
- Luoyang best Mar, Apr, May
- Nanjing best Mar, Apr, May
- Qingdao best Apr, Jun, Aug
- Quanzhou best Jan, Feb, Nov
- Sanya best Jan, Mar, Apr
- Shanghai best Apr, May, Nov
- Shangri-La best Jun, Sep, Nov
- Suzhou best Mar, May, Sep
- Xi'an best Mar, May, Jun
- Xiamen best Sep, Oct, Nov
- Zhangye best Apr, Jun, Aug
Nearby
- Ulaanbaatar Mongolia · 1,008 km
- Seoul South Korea · 1,217 km
- Sokcho South Korea · 1,334 km
- Pyeongchang South Korea · 1,357 km
Kind of place
Datong is in China, East Asia. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.
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