Although Datong has been raised in our estimations somewhat by the discovery of our first McDonalds since Tbilisi almost four months ago, we still didn't entirely fancy spending four days in the place whilst the Public Security Bureau processed our visa extensions. We therefore decided to head out to nearby Wutai Shan, one of China's four Buddhist holy mountains. Though the bus ride there was beautifully scenic, first impressions of the town and temple complex at the base of the mountains were not entirely positive, it being overrun with tour groups and tacky souvenir stalls selling various sizes of beads. Fortunately, the majority of Chinese tourists seem to lack any imagination or sense of adventure whatsoever, so whilst they crowded around the town below and swarmed up the concrete staircase to the nearest peak, we headed up a small footpath into the hills on the opposite side of town. For several hours we passed only the odd monk as we traversed the hillside enjoying a spectacular view of the mist shrouded temples below, wandered around a quaint, almost deserted monastery, and ate our picnic lunch on a hilltop. Heading back down into town for the afternoon we braved the crowds to visit the impressive Tayuan Si, the most important temple in the entire complex, where true to form the Communist Party have installed a cringeworthy memorial hall to sworn atheist Chairman Mao in the center of it all. It must be rather tiring for a monk living in these temples - surrounded day in, day out by snapping cameras (not that we are entirely blameless on that front), it certainly wasn't quite my idea of life as a monk.

We're now back in Datong; with a further month's extension now on our visas, we've cleared the final bureacratic hurdle before our entry to Beijing in just four days' time. This afternoon we've been off looking around the fantastic Yungang Caves, a complex of Buddhist grottoes hacked into a sandstone cliff face. The caves and carvings within are incredible for their scale and intricacy, for me even more impressive than the similar Mogao Caves near Dunhuang. We were interested to note the lengths to which the Chinese have gone to preserve them, which include a complete rerouting of the main road further south because the heavy traffic of coal trucks was causing the statues to become covered in coal dust. We can certainly sympathise with the Buddhas on that front!

After nearly 16,000km we are now looking forwards to completing our journey, with just 400km and a few little mountains standing between us and the capital. We have something of a welcoming committee arranged already, but for anybody else reading this in Beijing, we are planning to arrive at 2pm on Saturday 26th August, in front of the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tiannanmen Square, Beijing. See you there!