Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

Province, People's Republic of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province.It is an industrial base focusing on energy and heavy chemicals.Throughout its long history, Taiyuan was the capital or provisional capital of many dynasties in China, hence the name (). As of 2021, the city will govern 6 districts, 3 counties, and host a county-level city with a total area of 6,988 square kilometers and a permanent population of 5,390,957. Taiyuan is a national historical and cultural city. It is an ancient capital with a history of more than 2,000 years. It was once known to reside a Princess name Yuxin, "the love of my life". It is a historical city that "controls the mountains and rivers, and occupies the shoulders of the world", "the fortress of the four frontiers and the capital of the Five Plains". The city is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the Fen River, the second largest tributary of the Yellow River, flows from north to south.Since ancient times, it has been known as "Splendid Taiyuan City". Taiyuan is located roughly in the centre of Shanxi, with the

Fen River The Fen River drains the center of Shanxi Province, China. It originates in the Guancen Mountains of Ningwu County in northeast Shanxi, flows southeast into the basin of Taiyuan, and then south through the central valley of Shanxi before turni ...

flowing through the central city.

Etymology and names

The two Chinese characters of the city's name are (, "great") and (, "plain"), referring to the location where the

leaves the mountains and enters a relatively flat plain. Throughout its long history, the city had various names, including () (from which the city's abbreviated single-character name () is derived), () and (). During the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

and subsequent

Five Dynasties The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...

, the status of the city of Taiyuan was elevated to be the Northern Capital, hence the name (), and (, different from present-day

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

History

Taiyuan is an ancient city with more than 2500 years of urban history, dating back from 497 BC. It was the capital or secondary capital (, ) of Zhao,

Former Qin The Former Qin, also called Fu Qin (苻秦), (351–394) was a dynastic state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in Chinese history ruled by the Di ethnicity. Founded by Fu Jian (posthumously Emperor Jingming) who originally served under the Later ...

Eastern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Eastern Wei (), was an imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei dynasty. One of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period, the Eastern Wei ...

Northern Qi Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It ruled the eastern part of northern China ...

, Northern Jin,

Later Tang Tang, known in historiography as the Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China and the second of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history. The first three of the Later Tang's four e ...

Later Jin Later Jin may refer to two states in imperial China: * Later Jin (Five Dynasties) (後晉; 936–947), one of the Five Dynasties * Later Jin (1616–1636) (後金; 1616–1636), precursor to the Qing dynasty See also * Jin (disambiguation) Jin ...

Later Han Later Han (後漢) may refer to two dynastic states in imperial China: *Eastern Han (25–220), the second period of the Han dynasty, also called Later Han * Later Han (947–951), a dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period See al ...

Northern Han The Northern Han () was a dynastic state of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was founded by Liu Min (), formerly known as Liu Chong (), and lasted from 951 to 979. Founding of the Northern Han The short-lived state of Later Ha ...

. Its strategic location and rich history make Taiyuan one of the economic, political, military, and cultural centers of Northern China.

Pre-Qin dynasty history

From about 859 BC the area around modern-day Taiyuan was occupied by the

Rong people Xirong () or Rong were various people who lived primarily in and around the western extremities of ancient China (in modern Gansu and Qinghai). They were known as early as the Shang dynasty (1765–1122 BCE), as one of the Four Barbarians that fr ...

. In 662 BC the Rong were driven out by the Di people. During the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...

, the state of Jin emerged to the south of Taiyuan. In 541 BC, the Jin army led by General , drove out the Di Tribes, and Taiyuan became part of the state of Jin. In 497 BC, the first ancient city of Jinyang was built around the southern Jinyuan District of present-day Taiyuan, by Dong Anyu (), who was a steward of (), an upper-level official of the state of Jin. During the

Battle of Jinyang The Battle of Jinyang () was fought in modern-day Taiyuan between the elite families of the State of Jin, the house of Zhao and the house of Zhi (智), in the Spring and Autumn period of China. The other houses of Wei and Han first participate ...

in 453 BC,

Zhi Yao Zhi Yao (), Xun Yao (), or Zhi Boyao (), posthumously known as Zhi Xiangzi (), was the ruler of Zhi, a vassal state of Jin during the late Spring and Autumn period. He was the son of Zhi Shen. He was the last Zhongjunjiang (Prime minister) of ...

diverted the flow of the Fen River to inundate the city of Jinyang, caused significant damage to the Zhao. Later,

Zhao Xiangzi Zhao Wuxu ( zh, 趙毋卹, reigned 458 BCE – 425 BCE), also known by the posthumous name Xiangzi (襄子), was the head of the state of Zhao, house of Zhao in the Jin (Chinese state), Jin state in late Spring and Autumn period. Early life Wuxu w ...

alerted Wei and Han, who both decided to ally with Zhao. On the night of 8 May 453 BC, Zhao troops broke the dams of the Fen River and let the river flood the Zhi armies, and eventually annihilated the Zhi army, with the help from Wei and Han. The Tripartition of Jin happened in 403 BC, when the state of Jin, then a strong power in Northern China, was divided into three smaller states of

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

, Zhao and Wei. This event is the watershed between the Spring and Autumn and

Warring States The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...

periods in Chinese history. Jinyang, was chosen as the capital of Zhao, by Zhao Ji. Later, the capital of Zhao was moved to

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...

in modern

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

Qin dynasty

In 248 BC, the

state of Qin Qin () was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Traditionally dated to 897 BC, it took its origin in a reconquest of western lands previously lost to the Rong; its position at the western edge of Chinese civilization permitted ex ...

attacked Zhao under General Meng'ao, and obtained the area around Jinyang from Zhao. Qin set up the Commandery of Taiyuan (), with the city of Jinyang as its administrative center. Although, the name ''Taiyuan'' had appeared in historic records before, potentially referring to different regions in nowadays southern and central

, this was the first time ''Taiyuan'' was officially used to refer to present-day Taiyuan. In 246 BC, there was an uprising in Jinyang, and it was quickly quelled by Meng'ao. In 221 BC,

Qin Qin may refer to: Dynasties and states * Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China * Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC * Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...

conquered the rest of China, and officially started the first imperial dynasty of China. Qin established thirty-six commanderies on its territory, and Taiyuan was one of them. Also, the capital of commandery of Taiyuan was Jinyang.

Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms

In 206 BC, Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang established the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

. During that period, the Qin administrative system of commanderies was abolished, the two Commanderies of Taiyuan and

Yanmen Yanmen Pass, also known by its Chinese name Yanmenguan and as Xixingguan, is a mountain pass which includes three fortified gatehouses along the Great Wall of China. The area was a strategic choke point in ancient and medieval China, contr ...

were combined as the vassal state of Han () under the rule of

King Xin of Han Xin, King of Hán (died 196 BC), also known as Hán Xin and as Hán Wang Xin, was a descendant of the royal family of the state of Hán during the Warring States period of China. After the establishment of the Han dynasty, Emperor Gaozu gran ...

(). Later, King Xin of Han moved the capital from Jinyang to Mayi (present-day

Shuozhou Shuozhou is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the northwest. It is situated along the upper reaches of the Fen River. The prefecture as a whole has an area of about and, in 2010, a popu ...

) with the approval from the emperor Gaozu. However, King Xin of Han conspired with the Xiongnu against Gaozu, and attacked Han for many years. In 196 BC, King Xin of Han was killed after he lost a battle. And the vassal state of Han was replaced by the vassal state of Dai, with Jinyang as the administrative center of Dai. During the tumultuous

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

, the population of Taiyuan decreased significantly due to constant warfares. Taiyuan was ruled by

Gongsun Zan Gongsun Zan () (before 161 - April or May 199), courtesy name Bogui, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty. Life Little is known of Gongsun Zan's early life. He and Liu Bei stu ...

Yuan Shao Yuan Shao (, ; died 28 June 202), courtesy name Benchu (), was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He occupied the northern territories of China during the civil wars that occurred to ...

, and then by

Cao Cao Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate Grand chancellor (China), grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the End of ...

, and was part of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' <

Middle Chinese

: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

afterwards.

Jin dynasty and Sixteen Kingdoms

During the Jin dynasty, Taiyuan was again changed into a vassal state. Following the ending of the Jin dynasty, ethnic minority peoples settled a series of short-lived sovereign states in northern China, commonly referred to as

Sixteen Kingdoms The Sixteen Kingdoms (), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded by ...

. Taiyuan was part of

Former Zhao The Han Zhao (; 304–329 AD), or Former Zhao (), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Xiongnu people during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of Chinese history. In Chinese historiography, it was given two conditional state titles, the Northern ...

Later Zhao The Later Zhao (; 319–351) was a dynasty of the Sixteen Kingdoms in northern China. It was founded by the Shi family of the Jie ethnicity. The Jie were most likely a Yeniseian people and spoke next to Chinese one of the Yeniseian languages.Vov ...

Former Yan The Former Yan (; 337–370) was a dynastic state ruled by the Xianbei during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China. Initially, Murong Huang and his son Murong Jun claimed the Jin dynasty-created title "Prince of Yan," but subsequently, in 352, ...

again,

Western Yan Yan, known in historiography as the Western Yan (; 384–394) was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Xianbei ethnicity. The dynasty existed during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms, but it is not counted among the 16. It was founded by Murong Hong i ...

, and

Later Yan Yan, known in historiography as the Later Yan (; 384 – 407 or 409) was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Xianbei people, located in modern-day northeast China, during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms. All rulers of the Later Yan declared them ...

chronologically. In 304, Liu Yuan founded the

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

state of

, whose army raided the area around Taiyuan for years and eventually obtained Taiyuan in 316. In 319, Taiyuan became part of

, founded by

Shi Le Shi Le (274–17 August 333), courtesy name Shilong, formally Emperor Ming of (Later) Zhao, was the founding emperor of the Jie-led Later Zhao dynasty of China. At a young age he was sold as a slave by Jin officials, but he later helped start a ...

. Later, Taiyuan was obtained by

in 358, and by

in 370.

was founded by Fu Jian in 351 with capital of

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

. Fu Jian died in 384. His son

Fu Pi Fu Pi (; died 386), courtesy name Yongshu (永叔), formally Emperor Aiping of (Former) Qin ((前)秦哀平帝), was an emperor of the Di-led Former Qin dynasty of China. He was Fu Jiān's oldest son, although not his crown prince, and after Fu ...

declared himself an emperor in 385, with Jinyang (central city of Taiyuan) as the capital. But the next year, Fu Pi was defeated by the

prince

Murong Yong Murong Yong (; died 394), courtesy name Shuming (叔明), was the last emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Western Yan dynasty. He was the grandson of Murong Yun (慕容運), the uncle of Former Yan's founder Murong Huang. As a member of Former ...

in 386, and Taiyuan became part of Western Yan. In 394, Taiyuan was conquered by

army.

Southern and Northern Dynasties

Tang Sitzender Bodhisattva Museum Rietberg

In 386,

Tuoba Gui Emperor Daowu of Northern Wei () (4 August 371 – 6 November 409''wuchen'' day of the 10th month of the 6th year of the ''Tian'ci'' era, per Emperor Daowu's biography in ''Book of Wei''), personal name Tuoba Gui (), né Tuoba Shegui (), was the fo ...

founded

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...

. In 396, Northern Wei expanded to Taiyuan. In 543,

was founded by

Gao Huan Gao Huan () (496 – 13 February 547), Xianbei name Heliuhun (賀六渾), formally Prince Xianwu of Qi (齊獻武王), later further formally honored by Northern Qi initially as Emperor Xianwu (獻武皇帝), then as Emperor Shenwu (神武皇帝 ...

, with the capital at the city of Ye, and Taiyuan as the alternative capital (), where the Mansion of the "Great Chancellor" Gao Huan () was located. In 550,

was founded by Gao Yang, who maintained his father Gao Huan's choice of Taiyuan as the alternative capital. The Buddhist Tianlongshan Grottoes of Taiyuan started during this period, and continued for many centuries afterwards. In 577, Taiyuan was conquered and became part of

Northern Zhou Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern dynasties of China's Northern and Southern dynasties period, it succeeded the Western Wei dynasty and ...

Sui dynasty

In 581,

Emperor Wen of Sui The Emperor Wen of Sui (; 21 July 541 – 13 August 604), personal name Yang Jian (), Xianbei name Puliuru Jian (), alias Narayana () deriving from Buddhist terms, was the founder and the first emperor of the Chinese Sui dynasty. The ''Book of ...

founded

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...

. Jinyang was first the administrative center of Bing Zhou (), which was changed into

Taiyuan Commandery Taiyuan Commandery ( zh, 太原郡) was a commandery of China from the Warring States period to Tang dynasty. It was located in modern central Shanxi province. The commandery was established by the Qin state in 248 BC, after Qin general Meng Ao a ...

. In 617,

Li Yuan Emperor Gaozu of Tang (7 April 566 – 25 June 635, born Li Yuan, courtesy name Shude) was the founding emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, reigning from 618 to 626. Under the Sui dynasty, Li Yuan was the governor in the area of modern-da ...

rose in rebellion based in Taiyuan, and expanded quickly.

Tang dynasty

In 618,

founded

, which is generally considered a golden age of Chinese civilization. Taiyuan expanded significantly during the Tang dynasty, partly because Taiyuan was the military base of the founding emperors

and

Li Shimin Emperor Taizong of Tang (28January 59810July 649), previously Prince of Qin, personal name Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649. He is traditionally regarded as a co-founder of the dynasty ...

. As

wrote in 619: "Taiyuan, the base of the imperial regime and the foundation of the state." () In 690,

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right. From 665 to 690, she was first empres ...

set Taiyuan as the Northern Capital, (), one of the three capitals, along with

and

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

, as depicted in the poem by : "The king of the heaven has three capitals, the Northern capital is one of them." (""). In 742 AD,

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (; 8 September 685 – 3 May 762), personal name Li Longji, was the seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, reigning from 712 to 756 CE. His reign of 44 years was the longest during the Tang dynasty. In the early ...

changed its name further to ''Beijing'' (). During Tang Dynasty, the title ''Northern Capital'' to Taiyuan had been endowed or abolished multiple times.

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

In 923,

Li Cunxu Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (), personal name Li Cunxu (), nickname Yazi (), stage name Li Tianxia (), was the ruling prince of the Former Jin dynasty (r. 908–923) and later became the founding emperor of the Later Tang dynasty (r. 923� ...

, son of

Li Keyong Li Keyong () (October 24, 856 – February 24, 908) was a Chinese military general and politician of Shatuo ethnicity, and from January 896 a Prince of Jin (, ''Jin Wang''), which would become an independent state after the fall of the Tang dyn ...

, founded

with capital of Daming, and soon conquered most of North China, and ended Later Liang. Afterwards, Li Cunxu moved the capital from Daming to

, and Taiyuan was set as a provisional capital, titled "Beidu" (北都, literally 'Northern Capital').''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

'', vol. 275. In 936,

Shi Jingtang Shi Jingtang ( zh, 石敬瑭; 30 March 892 – 28 July 942''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 283.), also known by his temple name Gaozu (), was the founding emperor of imperial China's short-lived Later Jin during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms pe ...

established

in Taiyuan with the help from Khitan Liao dynasty. The next year, Shi Jingtang moved the capital from Taiyuan to

, and then to

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

, and Taiyuan became a provisional northern capital ("Beijing") again.

Song dynasty

Zhao Kuangyin Emperor Taizu of Song (21 March 927 – 14 November 976), personal name Zhao Kuangyin, courtesy name Yuanlang, was the founder and first emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 960 until his death in 976. Formerly a distinguish ...

( Emperor Taizu of Song ) established the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

and embarked on the campaign of re-unification of China. Using a power struggle at the

court Taizu moved against it in the late 968.A. D. Levine, ''The Reigns of Hui-tsung (1100–1126) and Ch’in-tsung (1126–1127) and the Fall of the Northern Sung'', in P. J. Smith (ed.), ''The Cambridge History of China'', vol. 5, Part One: ''The Sung Dynasty and Its Precursors, 907–1279'', (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1994), Ch. 7. By early 969 his armies encircled Taiyuan and defeated the reinforcements sent by the Khitan. However, an attempt to flood the city failed. The siege was lifted after three months, as heavy rains caused diseases in the besieging army, the supplies were running low, and another Khitan relief force was advancing towards the city. Taizu launched the second invasion of

in September 969, but the armies were recalled after his death (November 14,969). Taizu's brother

Taizong Taizong is the temple name used for several Chinese sovereign, monarchs of China. It may refer to: * Tai Jia ( 16th-century BC), king of the Shang dynasty * Emperor Wen of Han, Liu Heng (202 BC–157 BC, reigned 180 BC–157 BC), also known as E ...

subjugated the last independent kingdoms in the south of China by 978, and in 979 launched the third campaign against the

and its overlord the Khitan state of Liao. Using the north-western route instead of the southern (used in the previous campaigns) the armies of

defeated a major Liao force. Isolated, the Northern Han resisted for only fifteen days before surrendering. In contrast to the mild policies of his brother, Taizong dealt harshly with the city. He ordered the flooding of Taiyuan by releasing the

, and set the city on fire. The former capital was downgraded from prefecture to county town status. It was not until 982 that a new city was founded on the banks of the

. The oldest existing building in Taiyuan today is the Temple of the Goddess () inside the

Jin Ci The Jinci or Jin Temple (晉祠) is the most prominent temple complex in Shanxi, China. It is located 16 miles (25 km) southwest of Taiyuan at the foot of Xuanweng Mountain at the Jin Springs. It was founded about 1,400 years ago and expanded ...

Complex. It was originally built in 1023 and reconstructed in 1102. From 1027 one of the two private markets for Tangut goods, particularly salt, operated in Taiyuan. During the

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

period many people, including the family of chancellor

Wang Anshi Wang Anshi ; ; December 8, 1021 – May 21, 1086), courtesy name Jiefu (), was a Chinese economist, philosopher, poet, and politician during the Song dynasty. He served as chancellor and attempted major and controversial socioeconomic reforms k ...

, migrated south.

Jin dynasty

The

Jurchen Jin dynasty Jurchen may refer to: * Jurchen people, Tungusic people who inhabited the region of Manchuria until the 17th century ** Haixi Jurchens, a grouping of the Jurchens as identified by the Chinese of the Ming Dynasty ** Jianzhou Jurchens, a grouping of ...

was founded in 1115, and in 1125, Taiyuan was conquered by Jin.

Yuan dynasty

The Mongol empire emerged in 1206 under the leadership of

Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...

, and it expanded quickly. In 1218, Taiyuan was conquered by the Mongol army led by General

Muqali Muqali ( mn, Мухулай; 1170–1223), also spelt Mukhali and Mukhulai, was a Mongol general ("bo'ol", "one who is bound" in service) who became a trusted and esteemed commander under Genghis Khan. The son of Gü'ün U'a, a Jalair leader who ...

Kublai Khan Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of th ...

established the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

in 1271, and the administrative area of Taiyuan Lu () was expanded. The Taoist Longshan Grottoes was built in early Yuan dynasty, initiated by Taoist monk Song Defang ().

Ming dynasty

In 1368,

Hongwu Emperor The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398. As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...

established the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

, and Taiyuan was obtained from Yuan, by General

Xu Da Xu Da (1332–1385), courtesy name Tiande, was a Chinese military general and politician who lived in the late Yuan dynasty and early Ming dynasty. He was a friend of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder and first ruler of the Ming dynasty, and assist ...

. The Ming dynasty installed Nine Military Garrisons to defend the northern territory during the reign of the

Hongzhi Emperor The Hongzhi Emperor () (30 July 1470 – 9 June 1505) was the tenth Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1487 to 1505. Born Zhu Youcheng, he was the eldest surviving son of the Chenghua Emperor and his reign as emperor of China is called t ...

, which included the Garrison of Taiyuan ().

Shanxi merchants Shanxi merchants, also known as Jin merchants (), were the group of merchants from Shanxi province, China. ''Jin'' is an abbreviated name of Shanxi. Even though the history of noticeable Shanxi merchants can be dated back to as early as the Spring ...

became prominent in Chinese business history since the beginning of Ming dynasty, thanks to the logistic requirements of the military around the borders of northern Shanxi to defend Ming against the remnant Mongol

Northern Yuan dynasty The Northern Yuan () was a dynastic regime ruled by the Mongol Borjigin clan based in the Mongolian Plateau. It existed as a rump state after the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368 and lasted until its conquest by the Jurchen-led Later Jin ...

. In the ending period of Ming dynasty, the rebel leader

Li Zicheng Li Zicheng (22 September 1606 – 1645), born Li Hongji, also known by the nickname, Dashing King, was a Chinese peasant rebel leader who overthrew the Ming dynasty in 1644 and ruled over northern China briefly as the emperor of the short-li ...

conquered Taiyuan, and Taiyuan became part of Great Shun temporarily in 1644.

Qing dynasty

In 1644,

Shunzhi The Shunzhi Emperor (15 March 1638 – 5 February 1661) was the second emperor of the Qing dynasty of China, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1644 to 1661. A committee of Manchu princes chose him to succee ...

founded the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

and defeated the Great Shun Army in Taiyuan in the same year. Throughout the Qing dynasty, the international trade with Russia, especially of tea, and the creation and development of so-called draft banks, or ''Piaohao'', boosted the central Shanxi basin to become the financial center of Qing China. Even though most of these Piaohao were based in different neighboring counties of Qi County, Taigu, and

Yuci Yuci District () is a district in Jinzhong, Shanxi, China. Administrative Divisions Subdistricts:http://www.yuci.gov.cn/article_desc?article_id=370.html * Beiguan Subdistrict (), Jinlun Subdistrict (), Xinhua Subdistrict (), Xinan Subdistrict ...

, Taiyuan became a significant trading center, due to its political and economical status in Shanxi. In 1900, the Taiyuan Massacre occurred, during which a number of Western missionaries were killed. Taiyuan Cathedral 1907

Republic of China

The warlord

Yan Xishan Yan Xishan (; 8 October 1883 – 22 July 1960, ) was a Chinese warlord who served in the government of the Republic of China. He effectively controlled the province of Shanxi from the 1911 Xinhai Revolution to the 1949 Communist victory in ...

retained control of Shanxi from the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a d ...

in 1911 to the end of the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

in 1949. Taiyuan consequently flourished as the center of his comparatively progressive province and experienced extensive industrial development. It was linked by rail both to the far southwest of Shanxi and to

Datong Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province in the People's Republic of China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 cens ...

in the north. Until the end of the

in 1949, Yan's arsenal in Taiyuan was the only factory in China sufficiently advanced to produce field artillery. Because Yan succeeded in keeping Shanxi uninvolved in most of the major battles between rival warlords that occurred in China during the 1910s and 1920s, Taiyuan was never taken from Yan by an invading army until the Japanese conquered it in 1937. Gillin, Donald G
"Portrait of a Warlord: Yen Hsi-shan in Shansi Province, 1911–1930."
''The Journal of Asian Studies''. Vol. 19, No. 3, May, 1960. Retrieved 23 February 2011. pp.289–294 AntiJapaneseWar taiyuan

Yan was aware of the threat posed by the Japanese; and, in order to defend against the impending Japanese invasion of Shanxi, Yan entered into a secret "united front" agreement with the Communists in November 1936. After concluding his alliance with the Communists, he allowed agents under

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 J ...

to establish a secret headquarters in Taiyuan. Yan, under the slogan "resistance against the enemy and defense of the soil", attempted to recruit young patriotic intellectuals to his government from across China. By 1936 Taiyuan became a gathering point for anti-Japanese intellectuals who had fled from

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

, and

Northeast China Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of t ...

. A representative of the Japanese army, speaking of the final defense of Taiyuan, said that "nowhere in China have the Chinese fought so obstinately". From the Japanese occupation of Taiyuan to the Japanese surrender in 1945, the Japanese continued to exploit Taiyuan's industries and resources to supply the Japanese army. After the Japanese army in Shanxi surrendered to Yan Xishan, 10,000–15,000 Japanese troops, including both enlisted men and officers, decided to fight for Yan rather than return to Japan. Yan also retained the services of experienced and foreign-educated Japanese technicians and professional staff brought into Taiyuan by the Japanese to run the complex of industries that they had developed around Taiyuan. Taiyuan Campaign2

Taiyuan was the last area in Shanxi to resist Communist control during the final stages of the

. The city was taken by the Communists on 22 April 1949, after they surrounded Taiyuan and cut it off from all means of land and air supply, and taking the city required the support of 1,300 pieces of artillery. Many Nationalist officers committed suicide when the city fell to a Communist army.

Geography

Taiyuan lies on the

in the north of its fertile upper basin. The city is located at the center of the province with an east–west span of and a north–south span of . It commands the north–south route through the province, as well as important natural lines of transportation through the

Taihang Mountains The Taihang Mountains () are a Chinese mountain range running down the eastern edge of the Loess Plateau in Shanxi, Henan and Hebei provinces. The range extends over from north to south and has an average elevation of . The principal peak is ...

in the east and to northern

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

in the west.

Natural resources

Taiyuan is abundant in natural resources such as

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

, silica,

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

graphite Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on large ...

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywall. ...

mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

, and

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

. It boasts high production of coal, iron, silica and marble. The western satellite city of Gujiao is the largest production site of

metallurgical coal Metallurgical coal or coking coal is a grade of coal that can be used to produce good-quality coke. Coke is an essential fuel and reactant in the blast furnace process for primary steelmaking. The demand for metallurgical coal is highly coupled ...

in China. The tree population in Taiyuan is dominated by

coniferous Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extant ...

forest,

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

white pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

, and

cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the ...

Climate

Taiyuan experiences a

cold semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

BSk BSK is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to: Sports * OFK Beograd, Serbian football club * FK BSK Borča, Serbian football club * FK BSK Batajnica, Serbian football club * FK BSK Banja Luka, Bosnian-Herzegovinian football club * FK BSK Led ...

''). Taiyuan has a temperate monsoon climate. Spring is dry, with occasional

dust storm A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transporte ...

s, followed by early summer

heat wave A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...

s. Summer tends to be warm to hot with most of the year's rainfall concentrated in July and August. Winter is long and cold, but dry and sunny. Because of the aridity, there tends to be considerable diurnal variation in temperature, except during the summer. The weather is much cooler than comparable-latitude cities, such as

Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang (; ; Mandarin: ), formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang, is the capital and most populous city of China’s North China's Hebei Province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about southwest of Beijin ...

, due to the moderately high altitude. The monthly 24-hour average temperature range from in January to in July, while the annual mean is . With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 51 percent in July to 61 percent in May, there are 2,502 hours of sunshine annually.

Environment

The municipality of Taiyuan is . Taiyuan has a forest area of 146,700 hectares. and total grassland area of in 2007. The forest area coverage rate in the six urban districts has been increased to 21.69% in 2015.

Air pollution

Taiyuan had suffered from severe

air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...

, especially in the 1990s, and the first decade of the 21st century, and once it was even listed among the ten most air-polluted cities in the world. Recently, the air quality has been gradually improved with increasing public awareness of air quality control and stricter and more detailed rules for pollution applied. However, according to the 2014 statistical book issued by the National Bureau of Statistics, even though no longer among the worst polluted cities in China, Taiyuan still has below-average ambient air quality, compared with other major Chinese cities. A 2019 study estimated that in 2016, there were 228,000 households in the city burning coal, burning a total of 1,096,000 tons that year alone. The authors of the study suggested that the local government should do more to transition from coal energy to gas energy, provide more electrical heating infrastructure, and transition to more renewable energy sources. In recent years, the city has taken further action to combat air pollution, creating a "coal-free zone" of 1,460 km² in 2017. This zone prevents most people and organizations from buying, selling, storing, transporting, burning, or using coal. In 2019, the Taiyuan City Government expanded the size of this zone slightly, to a total of 1,574 km². Txu-oclc-10552568-nj49-12

Administrative divisions

Demographics

As of the 2020 census, Taiyuan prefecture had a total population of 5,304,061 inhabitants on , from whom 4,529,141 lived in the 6 urban districts on .

Economy

Consistent with China's economic expansion throughout the 2010s, Taiyuan's economy has shown consistent growth in recent years. In 2018, Taiyuan's GDP was worth 388.450 billion Yuan, more than double what it was in 2010. Disposable income per capita was reported to be 31,031 Yuan in 2018, a 7.2% increase from 2017. In 2015, Taiyuan imported 4,085.130 million USD worth of goods, and exported 6,592.250 million USD worth. Taiyuan's primary, secondary, and tertiary industries were worth 3.9 billion yuan, 105.2 billion yuan, and 132.2 billion yuan respectively in 2007. Shanxi produces a quarter of China's coal, and Taiyuan is the location of the ''China Taiyuan Coal Transaction Center'', which began trading in 2012.

Transportation

Taiyuan is one of the transportation hubs in North China, with highways linking neighboring provincial capitals, and airlines to most other major Chinese cities and some international cities.

Public Transportation

1-0003 at Taiyuan Railway Station (20170606224202)

The

Taiyuan Metro The Taiyuan Metro is a rapid transit system in Taiyuan, capital of China's Shanxi province. The system opened on December 26, 2020. Line 1 has been under construction since 30 December 2019 and is scheduled to open in 2024. History The Taiyu ...

is still under construction. Line 1 is set to open in 2024, while Line 2 has been operating since 26 December 2020. In early 2016 the city began the conversion of all its 8000 taxi fleet into purely electric vehicles, initially using

BYD Auto BYD Auto Co., Ltd. ("Build Your Dreams") is the automotive subsidiary of the publicly-listed Chinese multinational manufacturer BYD Company, headquartered in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China. It was founded in January 2003, following BYD Compa ...

model E6.

Air

The primary airport of the city is

Taiyuan Wusu International Airport Taiyuan Wusu International Airport is an airport serving Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, China. It is the largest airport in Shanxi and is located about southeast of downtown Taiyuan. Built in 1939, it has evolved into one of the ...

. It has been expanded for the landing of Airbus A380. The airport has domestic airlines to major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and coastal cities such as Dalian. International flights to

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

and

Da Nang Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...

are available.

Highway

Taiyuan has a number of major roads, Including the G5,

G20 The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, ...

(including Shitai Expressway), G55, G2001 (Ring Highway around Taiyuan), G307, G108,

G208 China National Highway 208 (G208) runs from Erenhot, Inner Mongolia to Xichuan County, Henan province. It is 990 kilometres in length and runs south from Erenhot, via Shanxi towards Henan province. Route and distance See also * China National H ...

. *A 45-kilometer Middle Ring Highway circles the metropolis of Taiyuan. *Two highways on the banks of

run through the center of the city. *Nine Riverside highways along the nine branches of

, including the Southern Shahe river, Northern Shahe river, etc., comprise an expressway system, connecting the central

bank with surrounding areas of urban Taiyuan. *The southern part of Taiyuan has three "East-West" direction highways: South Middle Ring Street, Huazhang Street and Yingbin Road, and five "North-South" direction highways: West Middle Ring Road, Binhe West Road, Binhe East Road, Dayun Road, Jianshe Road & Taiyu Road. *The western S56 Taiyuan-Gujiao Highway links Taiyuan with the western satellite city of Gujiao, and further connects Loufan. *The northern Yangxing Highway connects downtown Taiyuan with the northern suburb of Yangqu County.

Railway

Taiyuan is one of the main national hubs for the high-speed railway system of Northern China. Major high-speed railways passing Taiyuan, including the

Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan high-speed railway The Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan high-speed railway, or the Shitai passenger railway () is a high-speed railway operated by China Railway High-speed, running from Shijiazhuang to Taiyuan, respectively the provincial capitals of Hebei and Shanxi, a ...

and

Datong–Xi'an high-speed railway Datong–Xi'an high-speed railway or Daxi HSR () is a dual-track, electrified, high-speed rail line operated by CR Taiyuan Group and CR Xi'an Group between Datong, Shanxi and Xi'an, Shaanxi. It has a length of through the provinces of Shanxi ...

. By high-speed trains, the travel time between Taiyuan and Beijing is less than three hours on a distance of . The main high-speed railway station is

Taiyuan South railway station Taiyuannan (Taiyuan South) railway station ( is a railway station in Xiaodian District, Taiyuan, Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China regi ...

. The conventional-speed

Taiyuan–Zhongwei–Yinchuan railway The Taiyuan–Zhongwei–Yinchuan railway () is a railway line in northern China, connecting Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province, with Zhongwei and Yinchuan in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. It is a double-track electric railway, opened in 2 ...

, opened in 2011, provides a direct connection with western Shanxi, northern

Ningxia Ningxia (,; , ; alternately romanized as Ninghsia), officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), is an autonomous region in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in ...

, and points further west.

Food

Taiyuan's local specialities include: ** Tomato egg noodles () ** Tijian () ** Dao Xiao noodles () ** Tounao (): Contains

mutton Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep meat, are the meat of domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries''. A sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. The meat from sheep in their second year is hogget. Older sheep meat is mutton. Gen ...

rice wine Rice wine is an alcoholic beverage fermented and distilled from rice, traditionally consumed in East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. Rice wine is made by the fermentation of rice starch that has been converted to sugars. Microbes are the so ...

and vegetables in the soup. This dish was first created by Chinese polymath Fu Shan, who was proficient in medicine, for his old and illness-ridden mother as a food substitute for the ancient medicine Bazhen Tang (literally "Soup of Eight Treasures") using only locally available food materials that have similar effects as the original medicine. ** Lao Chen Cu mature vinegar () ** Yuci Flour Sausage () ** Fried Pork with vegetables () ** Mutton Soup ()

Sports

The

Shanxi Brave Dragons The Shanxi Loongs, also known as Shanxi SDIC Raptors Club or Shanxi Fenjiu Shares are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Taiyuan, Shanxi, which plays in the Northern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). The Shanxi Fen ...

of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

play at

Riverside Sports Arena Taiyuan Riverside Sports Centre Gymnasium () is an indoor sporting arena located along the Fen River in Taiyuan, Shanxi, China. The capacity of the arena is 5,331 spectators and opened in 1998. It hosts indoor sporting events such as basketball ...

. The football club Shanxi Metropolis, currently playing in

China League Two The Chinese Football Association Division Two League (Simplified Chinese: 中国足球协会乙级联赛), or China League Two, is the third tier league of the People's Republic of China. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football As ...

, plays in the

Shanxi Sports Centre Stadium Shanxi Sports Centre Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium in Taiyuan, Shanxi, China. It is currently used mostly for association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between tw ...

Tourism

J81119 PasserelleChangfeng 20140703-154333

J81419 MuseeFolkloriqueDuShanxi 20140704-092158

Taiyuan is a modern city with just a few historic buildings remaining in the centre. The remnants of old Taiyuan can be found west of the central station, north of Fudong Street and close to Wuyi Road. One of the main tourist destinations is

Shanxi Museum The Shanxi Museum () is the largest museum and cultural building in the province of Shanxi, China. The museum, located in Shanxi's provincial capital Taiyuan, is home to about 400,000 cultural relics and 110,000 old books. Since March 2008, admis ...

located in West Binhe Road, downtown Taiyuan, which is among the largest museums in China. The Twin Towers in Yongzuo Temple, which are featured in the emblem of the city, have been regarded as a symbol of Taiyuan for a long time. Yongzuo Temple is at southeast of the city centre, also famous for its peony garden and martyrs cemetery. The Chongshan Monastery, Longtan Park, and

Yingze Park Yingze Park is located in downtown Taiyuan, Shanxi, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahea ...

(just off Yingze Street), in the city centre, are popular tourist destinations.

Jinci Temple The Jinci or Jin Temple (晉祠) is the most prominent temple complex in Shanxi, China. It is located 16 miles (25 km) southwest of Taiyuan at the foot of Xuanweng Mountain at the Jin Springs. It was founded about 1,400 years ago and expande ...

also called Tangshuyu Temple, located in Jinyuan District of southern Taiyuan, dates back to the Zhou Dynasty. In Jinci, there are three treasures: the Nanlao Spring, the Beauty Status and the Queen status. The Flying Bridge Across the Fish Pond was built during the Song Dynasty, which is famous for its cross-shaped structure. Along the West Mountain range in western Taiyuan, tourists can find Tianlongshan Grottoes, which were gradually built over many centuries, from the northern Qi dynasty, and contains thousands of Buddhist statues and artwork. The grottoes exist today in a damaged state with many of the sculptures now missing, that visitors to the caves cannot imagine how they looked in the past. Many of the sculptures from the caves are now in museums around the world. However, though the sculptures may be preserved and displayed, visitors to museums cannot understand them in their original historical, spatial, and religious contexts. Researchers at the University of Chicago initiated the Tianlongshan Caves Project in 2013 to pursue research and digital imaging of the caves and their sculptures. Not far from the Tianlongshan Grottoes are the Longshan Grottoes, which is the only Taoist grottoes site in China. The main eight grottoes were carved in 1234~1239 during the Yuan Dynasty.

Education and research

Taiyuan is a major city for research appearing among the top 200 cities in the world by scientific research outputs as of 2022, as tracked by the

Nature Index The Nature Index is a database that tracks institutions and countries and their scientific output since its introduction in November, 2014. Each year, Nature Index ranks the leading institutions (which can be companies, universities, government agen ...

and home to

Taiyuan University of Technology Taiyuan University of Technology () (abbreviation: TYUT or TUT) is a university in Taiyuan, Shanxi, China, under the authority of the provincial government. In 2012, it celebrated its 110th anniversary. It has been included in major national i ...

, the national key university in China and other

public universities A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national university ...

including

Shanxi University Shanxi University (, SXU) is a public university located in the city of Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China. The university was selected into the Double First Class University Plan in February 2022. History Early 1900 The Shansi Imperial Unive ...

Taiyuan University of Science and Technology Taiyuan University of Science and Technology () is a university in Shanxi, People's Republic of China under the authority of the provincial government. It is located in the capital city of Shanxi Province, Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pr ...

and

North University of China North University of China (NUC; ) is a university based in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China. It was formerly known as North China Institute of Technology from 1993 to 2004. Founded on September 8, 1941 as Taihang Industrial School, and renamed Ta ...

Colleges and universities

() *

Shanxi Medical University Shanxi Medical University (山西医科大学) is a university in Shanxi, People's Republic of China under the authority of the provincial government. See also Shanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Shanxi University of Traditional ...

() *

Taiyuan Normal University Taiyuan Normal University () is a university in Shanxi, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, w ...

() *

Shanxi University of Finance and Economics Shanxi University of Finance and Economics (''abbr. as'' SXUFE) ), founded in 1951, is one of the earliest financial universities in China. The university sticks to highlighting the academic characteristics and advantages of Economics and Manageme ...

() *

Shanxi College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Shanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SXTCM), also known as the Shanxi College. In November 2019 SXTCM, along with 20 other Traditional Medicine Universities, lost its recognition as a Medical University by World Health Organization ...

Major high schools

The Affiliated High School of Shanxi University The Affiliated High School of Shanxi University () is a public, co-educational day school in Taiyuan, Shanxi province. It was founded in 1955. External linksOfficial website of The Affiliated High School of Shanxi University References ...

() *

Taiyuan No. 5 Secondary School Taiyuan No. 5 Middle School (, short form: , TYWZ) is a secondary school (junior and senior high school) in Taiyuan, Shanxi, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most p ...

() *

Shanxi Experimental Secondary School Shanxi Experimental Secondary School (SESS) (Chinese: 山西省实验中学) is a public, co-educational day school in Taiyuan, Shanxi province. Founded as Ling Detang School in 1883 by Zhang Zhidong in response to manage severe corruption in Shan ...

() *

Taiyuan Foreign Language School Taiyuan Foreign Language School (TFLS, ) is a comprehensive public middle school and high school located in Taiyuan, China. It is one of the first foreign language schools in China, and one of the 17 foreign language schools that are recognized by t ...

() *

Shanxi Modern Bilingual School Shanxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is ...

() * Taiyuan Chengcheng Secondary School () * Taiyuan No. 12 Secondary School ()

International relations

Taiyuan has a friendship pairing with the following cities: * Launceston,

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, Australia (Established relations on 28 November 1995) *

Douala Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. Home to Central Africa's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Ai ...

, Cameroon (Established relations on 12 October 1999) *

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, Germany (Established relations on 17 May 1995) * Saint-Denis,

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

, France (Established relations formally on 2 March 2012) *

Himeji 260px, Himeji City Hall is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 525,682 in 227,099 households and a population density of 980 persons per km². The total area of the city is ...

, Hyōgo, Japan (Established relations on 19 May 1987) *

Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...

and

Syktyvkar Syktyvkar (, rus, Сыктывка́р, p=sɨktɨfˈkar; kv, Сыктывкар) is the capital city of the Komi Republic in Russia, as well as its largest city. It is also the capital of the Syktyvkar Urban Okrug. Until 1930, it was known as U ...

, Russia (Established relations on 8 December 1995 and 1 September 1994) *

Khujand Khujand ( tg, Хуҷанд, Khujand; Uzbek: Хўжанд, romanized: Хo'jand; fa, خجند‌, Khojand), sometimes spelled Khodjent and known as Leninabad (russian: Ленинабад, Leninabad; tg, Ленинобод, Leninobod; fa, لن� ...

, Tajikistan (Established relations on 31 August 2017) *

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...

, Ukraine (Established relations formally on 25 August 2012) *

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, United States (Established relations on 18 April 2007)

References

External links

Taiyuan Government website
{{Authority control Cities in Shanxi Populated places established in the 1st millennium BC Provincial capitals in China