Datong is the second largest city in Shanxi, and it situated in the northern part of Shanxi Province, at the eastern edge of the loess plateau, consisting of 11 counties with a population of 3 millions (1.21 millions in urban district) and covering an area of 14,152 sq km (3,497,032 acres).
Datong is 236 miles west of Beijing and 219 miles north of Taiyuan, and it is an important traffic junction with great strategic importance.
Nowadays Datong has become the domestic leader in coal production and it is known by the locals as the coal capital (Meidu) for there is abundant mineral resource of which the coal mine is the most famous. Datong coal is everywhere and tons of coal powers the whole of Shanxi and other cities, piles of it chugs along the roads around town in Soviet style off-blue trucks, smears of it was discovered on a face-wiped handkerchief.
Datong is a city with a long history. Datong was belonged to the Yanmen Coutry of Zhao Kingdom during the Warring States Period. Then during the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589), Pingcheng (Datong) was settled as the capital of Northern Wei Kingdom. Later
Liao Dynasty (916-1125) made it the auxiliary capital in 1044 and Jin (Kin) (1115-1234) remained it as a big city comprised of seven counties and three towns. Datong belonged to Zhongshu Province during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and Datong belonged to Shanxi Province and became Datong County during the domination of China during Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
?