Superstars in Datong

What do you do on a Saturday night in Datong, a small coal mining town (population 1.1M based on Lonely Planet and 3.1M based on Wikipedia) in the province Shanxi? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datong - You go to hang-out on Hongqi Square in the centre and play ball, kick the shuttle cock with your foot or you jump the rope listening to loud techno music. A 100 metres further down the road you find the (public) karaoke stage surrounded by food stalls, clothes sellers and other street vendors. 

We weren't watching Chinese (mostly men) sing not familiar Chinese songs for very long until we were asked by the elegantly (shiny black and white leather shoes and a pink shirt) dressed presenter to come on stage and dance for everyone. We must have ended on nearly everyone's phone photo gallery that evening. (Well, and everyday thereafter people came to ask if they can take a photo with us.)

People in Datong have been very friendly. We have met a girl leaning out of a taxi's window shouting "Hello! Welcome to Datong!", waitresses advising us to order less because it is going to be too much and the taxi driver buying us ice cream on the way back into town. 

Coincidently we have discovered one of the finest restaurants in Datong called "Feeling" (near Huayan Temple). We have enjoyed two evening meals there with crispy chicken (served with its head), dumplings (a local specialty) and "Sugar Fire" pie (a sweet pie with dried fruits and nuts; my absolute favourite). - I suggest to have this added to the Lonely Planet guide. 

The city is growing rapidly. The Hutong-style city center is being re-build from scratch and lots of new apartment blocks are raising - probably for the next one million inhabitants. There seem to be very few cars on the wide avenues. But 2-3 lanes in each direction will be able to accomodate more cars for the middle class in the future. - Driving is "Southern Italian"-style. Red traffic lights are ignored, arbitrarily changing lanes is common, cars, scooters, bicycles mix with buses and pedestrians. 

Oh, and yes, we have visited the Hanging Monastery and the Yungang Caves. The latter is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with rock-cut architecture and Buddhist scultures. (Really nice!) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yungang_Grottoes