The yellow earthen ramparts that once bounded the old city are still quite impressive, though they have been heavily cut into and demolished in places as modern Datong has expanded. The best stretches are in the east of the city. Inside the walls, the few treasures that remain of Datong's considerably more prestigious past are off sombre streets lined with utilitarian buildings and walls painted with propaganda slogans. Outside the centre, the streets, along which Mao-suited men ride donkey carts brimming with coal, have a gritty, Dickensian feel which those who don't have to live here might just find appealing.