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.