Discover Datong
Nine Dragon Wall
九龙壁
A 45-metre glazed-tile screen wall built around 1392 for a Ming prince's palace, the largest and oldest of China's surviving nine-dragon walls - older and bigger than the better-known one in Beijing's Forbidden City.
The story
What makes this place special
The Nine Dragon Wall is the glazed-tile screen that stood before the gate of the mansion of Zhu Gui, the thirteenth son of the Ming founder Zhu Yuanzhang, who was enfeoffed as Prince of Dai at Datong. The mansion itself is gone - the wall outlived it by centuries - and the screen is the oldest and largest of China's surviving nine-dragon walls, predating the better-known ones in Beijing. Nine dragons in high-relief glazed ceramic move across a tiled ground above a carved base.
What you’ll discover
A single long free-standing wall, now set in a cleared plaza with a reflecting pool in front of it, part of the reconstructed Prince of Dai mansion quarter. You look at one object: the nine dragons in yellow, blue, green, purple and white glaze, each in a different posture against a ground of waves and clouds. It takes ten or fifteen minutes unless you are looking closely at the glaze, and it is best seen reflected in the water.
A little local insight
Good to know before you go
- Stand back far enough to get all nine dragons at once, then come close for the glaze. The two viewings are completely different objects.
- Use the reflecting pool. The wall was always meant to be seen doubled in water, and the photograph everyone wants is the reflection.
- This is a fifteen-minute stop, not a destination. Slot it between Huayan and Shanhua temples rather than treating it as a separate outing.
- The reconstructed Prince of Dai mansion buildings behind it are new. The wall is the only original thing in the enclosure.
- Dragons in imperial China were counted: nine is the emperor's number, and this wall belonging to a prince rather than the emperor is part of why it is historically interesting. That point is not usually explained on site.
When to come
Morning or late afternoon, when raking light brings out the relief in the glaze; at noon the colours flatten out. Lit at night, which is also good.
Getting around
Entirely level paved plaza with nothing to climb. Fully wheelchair accessible and the easiest site in Datong for anyone with a bad knee - the whole visit can be done from one standing position.
Worth knowing before you go
The palace it screened burned down centuries ago, so the wall now stands alone - expect a quick stop rather than a site visit, and go when the light is on the glaze in the morning.
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