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Taiyuan
 Taiyuan,
a historic city in the north, is the provincial
capital of Shanxi. It is one of the new
industrial bases of china, having various
industries such as metallurgy, coal, engineering,
chemicals, electronics and textiles, With
a population of almost two million, the
city is in the central Shanxi plain surrounded
by mountains with the Feng river running
through it so that the climate is temperate.It
is rich in minerals and agricultural produce
as well as beautiful in scenery: so tourists
come all the year round. Taiyuan, formerly
called Jinyang, was originally built at
the end of the Spring and Autumn Period
with a history of over 2,400 years, at the
time of the Northern and Southern Dynasties,it
used to be the spare capital of Eastern
Wei and Northern Qi. The once flourishing
Tang dynasty originated from Jinyang. Which
was called the northern capital when Changan
was made the capital of the Tang regime.
On account of its long history. There are
cultural relics and places of interest all
over the Taiyuan area. Jin Memorial Temple
was built in commemoration of the first
king Tang Shuyu of the kingdom of Jin. So
the temple is famous for the magnificent
architectures of the Song dynasty, the exquisite
figures of maidservants and its beautiful
garden. Chongshan Temple at the east end
of the city is said to be originally the
temporary dwelling place of Emperor Yang
of the Sui dynasty: but extensions were
made on the old site in 1381 (Ming dynasty)
by the son of Zhu Yuanzhang to commemorate
his mother. The extant Hall of Great Mercy
is the most typical Ming dynasty architecture
that has been preserved in the best condition,and
possesses high artistic value. The design
of the figure of avalokitesvara with one
thousand hands and one thousand eyes is
indeed grotesque and spectacular. In The
hall are also preserved Buddhist scriptures
of the Song. Yuan and Ming dynasty editions
as well as picture albums of Buddha's deels
and about his fifty-three disciples. They
are precious material or the study of Chinese
art in the Song. Yuan and Ming dynasties.
The two Mine dynasty brick towers, both
over 50 m. in height. Stand loftily at the
south-east end of the city and are looked
upon as the symbol of Taiyuan. The district
has been turned into a park open to the
public. The Chunyang Palace. Which forms
part of Shanxi museum.was originally the
temple for offering sacrifices to the Taoist
Priest Lu Dongbin. Now there are twenty
one showrooms exhibiting respectively chinaware,
bronze, jade articles bamboo, woodland ivory
carvings stone sculptures, calligraphy,
paintings, rubbings from stone inscriptions,
enamelware. lacquerware etc.Altogether there
are over two thousand articles on display
from the ancient earthen ware of the Yangshao
culture to the cultural relics of the successive
dynasties. In fact all the cultural relics
of Shanxi province as one of the cradles
of the Chinese civilization in the middle
reaches of the Huanghe River are gathered
here for the benefit of tourists. From time
immemorial shanxi has been a rich province.
In Taiyuan the tourist may taste the local
slightly sweet. snow-white rice. The good
shanxi cooked wheaten food. The famous wines
and the delicious Taiyuan vinegar. If he
is interested. He may also bring home replicas
of cultural objects articles of industrial
art as well as celebrated Chinese medicines.
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