"The Hanging Monastery (Xuankong Si)" Hunyuan by agaiax

This monastery is build on extremely steep cliffs of Mt. Hengshan above Jinlong Canyon. The river once flowing through the canyon is now tamed because of a dam (quite ugly, you can also climb on it - for an extra fee of 10 RMB) build upstream. That somehow reduces the extreme position of the monastery, but with some imagination you can get a picture of how this place used to look.
Xuankong Si is a wooden construction (wood and clay), the bridges and corridors connecting different pavilions and caves in which dozens of bronze, iron, stone and clay statues are enshrined. In San Jiao Dian (Three Religions Hall), Buddha, Confucius and Laotsu are enshrined together - a rare thing and a proof of old Chinese religious tolerance.
The monastery is somehow forgotten, there is a huge parking area in front of it and a big touristic complex near by, both remnants of a touristic boom a few years ago.
Nowdays you can enjoy it almost privately, which is a great luxury in China.
I highly recomend!

Entrance fee (with additional 15 RMB for some kind of 'ensurance'?!) is alltogether 45 RMB. You can get a student discount for the ticket, but the ensurance is not negotiable. The place is opened from 9 am to 5 pm.

It all stands on wooden poles...

The monastery is really an architectural wonder. The whole complex is build of wood and sometimes made into sheer rock (stairs and caves). It is sometimes 3 floors high and evreything is carefully balanced on wooden poles.

... and those stand on...

... yes, on those little... I-don't-know-how-are-they-called. It scares you a bit when you see what you're walking on. And you can start imagining all sort of things - with happy and sad endings.
But nothing really happend, the whole thing is quite safe, it's been like that for centuries!

• Pros:A really great surprise off the beaten track!!!
• In a nutshell:The monastery is bout 80 km from Datong and 5 from Hunyuan. There are regular buses to Hunyuan (15 RMB) and then you can take a 'black' taxi to the site - this shouldn't cost you more then 10 RMB.