Datong is one of the 24 historical and cultural cities in China. Neighboring Hebei Province to the east and Inner Mongolian to the north, Datong is an important northern transportation hub in China. It is about 380 kilometers (236 miles) away from Beijing and 350 kilometers (217 miles) from the provincial capital city - Taiyuan. The earliest record of inhabitation of the city is during the Paleolithic Period some 10,000 years ago, and inaugurated as the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386 - 534) in 398. It had served as the heart of the country in the successive 100 years until Emperor Xiaowen of the Wei relocated the country's capital to Luoyang in 471. In the later Liao (916 - 1125) and Jin (1115 - 1234) dynasties, it became the alternate capital in the northern part, and considered as the second political and trading center in the country during those periods. A large number of archeological relics from the Liao and Jin periods excavated in the city provide evidence of the splendor and prosperity of the city.