Taiyuan

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Taiyuan

太原市
Prefecture-level city
Taiyuan Montage.png
Longtan Park, The east pagoda in Twin Pagoda Temple, Jinci temple.
Nickname(s): 
Bīngzhōu (并州); Jìnyáng (晋阳); Dragon City (龙城)
Taiyuan
Location of Taiyuan Prefecture within Shanxi (China).png
Location of Taiyuan City jurisdiction in Shanxi
China Shanxi adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Taiyuan
Location of the city center in Shanxi
Coordinates(Taiyuan municipal government): 37°52′13″N112°32′59″E / 37.8704°N 112.5497°E / 37.8704; 112.5497 Coordinates: 37°52′13″N112°32′59″E / 37.8704°N 112.5497°E / 37.8704; 112.5497
CountryPeople's Republic of China
Province Shanxi
Municipal seat Xinghualing District
Divisions County-level divisions: 10, Township-level divisions: 83
Government
 • Party Secretary Luo Qingyu
 • Mayor Li Xiaobo 李晓波
Area
 •  Prefecture-level city 6,959 km2 (2,687 sq mi)
 • Urban
1,460 km2 (560 sq mi)
Elevation
800 m (2,600 ft)
Highest elevation
2,670 m (8,760 ft)
Lowest elevation
760 m (2,490 ft)
Population
 (2010 census) [1]
 •  Prefecture-level city 4,201,591
 • Density600/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
 •  Urban
 (2017) [2]
3,709,700
 • Urban density2,500/km2 (6,600/sq mi)
 • Districts [2]
4,372,000
Time zone UTC+08:00 (China Standard)
Postal code
030000
Area code(s) 351
ISO 3166 code CN-SX-01
Vehicle registration 晋A
GDP ¥ 3382.18 billion (2017)
GDP per capita ¥ 78,472 (2017)
GaWC Global City level classification Gamma - [3]
Major Nationalities Han
Administrative division code 140100
Website taiyuan.gov.cn
Taiyuan
Taiyuan (Chinese characters).svg
"Taiyuan" in Chinese characters
Chinese 太原
Literal meaning"Great Plain"

Taiyuan (Chinese :太原; pinyin :Tàiyuán [tʰâi.ɥɛ̌n] , also known as Bīng (并), Jìnyáng (晋阳) [4] ) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi province, People's Republic of China. [5] It is one of the main manufacturing bases of China. Throughout its long history, Taiyuan was the capital or provisional capital of many dynasties in China, hence the name Lóngchéng (龙城; Dragon City). [6]

Contents

Taiyuan is located roughly in the centre of Shanxi, with the Fen River flowing through the central city. [7] Taiyuan is also a major city, appearing among the top 500 cities in the world by scientific research outputs, as tracked by the Nature Index [8] and home to several key universities in China, including Taiyuan University of Technology, Shanxi University and North University of China.

Etymology and names

The two Chinese characters of the city's name are 太 (tài, "great") and 原 (yuán, "plain"), referring to the location where the Fen River leaves the mountains and enters a relatively flat plain. Throughout its long history, the city had various names, including Bīngzhōu (并州) (from which the city's abbreviated single-character name Bīng (并) is derived), Jìnyáng (晋阳) and Lóngchéng (龙城).[ citation needed ] Taiyuan has also been known as "Yangku"(阳曲), since the county seat of Taiyuan was called Yangku (阳曲县) in Qing Dynasty.

During the Tang dynasty and subsequent Five Dynasties, the status of the city of Taiyuan was elevated to be the Northern Capital, hence the name Běidū (北都), and Běijīng (北京, different from present-day Beijing). [9]

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 ( 陪 都 , 别 都 ) of Zhao, Former Qin, Eastern Wei, Northern Qi, Northern Jin, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, Northern Han. Its strategic location and rich history make Taiyuan one of the economic, political, military, and cultural centers of Northern China. [6]

Pre-Qin dynasty history

From about 859 BC the area around modern-day Taiyuan was occupied by the Rong people. In 662 BC the Rong were driven out by the Di people. [10]

During the Spring and Autumn period, the state of Jin emerged to the south of Taiyuan. In 541 BC, the Jin army led by General Xun Wu  [ zh ], drove out the Di Tribes, and Taiyuan became part of the state of Jin. [ citation needed ]

In 497 BC, the first ancient city of Jinyang was built around the southern Jinyuan District of present-day Taiyuan, by Dong Anyu ( 董 安 于 ), who was a steward of Zhao Jianzi  [ zh ] (赵鞅), an upper-level official of the state of Jin. [6] [11]

During the Battle of Jinyang in 453 BC, Zhi Yao diverted the flow of the Fen River to inundate the city of Jinyang, caused significant damage to the Zhao. Later, Zhao Xiangzi 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. [12]

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, Zhao and Wei. This event is the watershed between the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods in Chinese history. Jinyang, was chosen as the capital of Zhao, by Zhao Ji. Later, the capital of Zhao was moved to Handan in modern Hebei. [ citation needed ]

Qin dynasty

In 248 BC, the state of Qin attacked Zhao under General Meng'ao, and obtained the area around Jinyang from Zhao. Qin set up the Commandery of Taiyuan (太原郡), 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 Shanxi, this was the first time Taiyuan was officially used to refer to present-day Taiyuan. [10]

In 246 BC, there was an uprising in Jinyang, and it was quickly quelled by Meng'ao. [ citation needed ]

In 221 BC, Qin 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. [13]

Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms

In 206 BC, Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang established the Han dynasty. During that period, the Qin administrative system of commanderies was abolished, the two Commanderies of Taiyuan and Yanmen were combined as the vassal state of Han (韩国) under the rule of King Xin of Han (韩王信). [ citation needed ]

Later, King Xin of Han moved the capital from Jinyang to Mayi (present-day Shuozhou) 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.[ citation needed ]

During the tumultuous Three Kingdoms, the population of Taiyuan decreased significantly due to constant warfares. Taiyuan was ruled by Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao, and then by Cao Cao, and was part of Cao Wei afterwards. [ citation needed ]

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. Taiyuan was part of Former Zhao, Later Zhao, Former Qin, Former Yan, Former Qin again, Western Yan, and Later Yan chronologically.

In 304, Liu Yuan founded the Xiongnu state of Former Zhao, whose army raided the area around Taiyuan for years and eventually obtained Taiyuan in 316. In 319, Taiyuan became part of Later Zhao, founded by Shi Le. Later, Taiyuan was obtained by Former Yan in 358, and by Former Qin in 370. Former Qin was founded by Fu Jian in 351 with capital of Chang'an. [ citation needed ]

Fu Jian died in 384. His son Fu Pi 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 Western Yan prince Murong Yong in 386, and Taiyuan became part of Western Yan. In 394, Taiyuan was conquered by Later Yan army. [ citation needed ]

Southern and Northern Dynasties

A sitting bodhisattva statue originally from Tianlongshan Grottoes, currently in Museum Rietberg, Zurich Tang Sitzender Bodhisattva Museum Rietberg.jpg
A sitting bodhisattva statue originally from Tianlongshan Grottoes, currently in Museum Rietberg, Zürich

In 386, Tuoba Gui founded Northern Wei. In 396, Northern Wei expanded to Taiyuan.

In 543, Eastern Wei was founded by Gao Huan, with the capital at the city of Ye, and Taiyuan as the alternative capital (别都), where the Mansion of the "Great Chancellor" Gao Huan (大丞相府) was located.

In 550, Northern Qi 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. [ citation needed ]

In 577, Taiyuan was conquered and became part of Northern Zhou.

Sui dynasty

Main battles involved for the establishment of Tang Dynasty originated from Taiyuan Establishment of the Tang Dynasty.svg
Main battles involved for the establishment of Tang Dynasty originated from Taiyuan

In 581, Emperor Wen of Sui founded Sui dynasty. Jinyang was first the administrative center of Bing Zhou (并州), which was changed into Taiyuan Commandery. In 617, Li Yuan rose in rebellion based in Taiyuan, and expanded quickly.

Tang dynasty

In 618, Li Yuan founded Tang dynasty, 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 Li Yuan and Li Shimin. As Li Shimin wrote in 619: "Taiyuan, the base of the imperial regime and the foundation of the state." (太原，王业所基，国之根本) [14]

In 690, Wu Zetian set Taiyuan as the Northern Capital, ( 北 都 ; Běidū), one of the three capitals, along with Chang'an and Luoyang, as depicted in the poem by Li Bai: "The king of the heaven has three capitals, the Northern capital is one of them." ("天王三京，北都居一"). [9] In 742 AD, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang changed its name further to Beijing ( 北京 ). During Tang Dynasty, the title Northern Capital to Taiyuan had been endowed or abolished multiple times. [13]

Five Dynasties

In 923, Li Cunxu, son of Li Keyong, founded Later Tang with capital of Daming, and soon conquered most of North China, and ended Later Liang. Afterwards, Li Cunxu moved the capital from Daming to Luoyang, and Taiyuan was set as a provisional capital, titled "Beijing" (Northern Capital). [ citation needed ]

In 936, Shi Jingtang established Later Jin in Taiyuan with the help from Khitan Liao dynasty. The next year, Shi Jingtang moved the capital from Taiyuan to Luoyang, and then to Kaifeng, and Taiyuan became a provisional northern capital ("Beijing") again. [ citation needed ]

Song dynasty

The hall of the holy mother in Jinci, constructed from 1023 to 1032 during the Song dynasty. Goddess Temple Jinsi.JPG
The hall of the holy mother in Jinci, constructed from 1023 to 1032 during the Song dynasty.

Zhao Kuangyin (Emperor Taizu of Song ) established the Song dynasty and embarked on the campaign of re-unification of China. Using a power struggle at the Northern Han court Taizu moved against it in the late 968. [15] 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. [15]

Taizu launched the second invasion of Northern Han in September 969, but the armies were recalled after his death (November 14,969). [15]

Taizu's brother Taizong subjugated the last independent kingdoms in the south of China by 978, and in 979 launched the third campaign against the Northern Han 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 Taizong 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 Fen River, and set the city on fire. [15] 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 Fen River. [16] The oldest existing building in Taiyuan today is the Temple of the Goddess (simplified Chinese : 圣 母 殿 ; traditional Chinese : 聖 母 殿 ) inside the Jin Ci 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. [17] During the Song period many people, including the family of Wang Anshi, migrated south. [18]

Jin dynasty

The Jurchen Jin dynasty was founded in 1115, and in 1125, Taiyuan was conquered by Jin. The same year, after the conquest of North China by Jin, the capital of Song was shifted to Lin'an, which marked the end of Northern Song, and the start of the Southern Song dynasty.

Yuan dynasty

The Mongol empire emerged in 1206 under the leadership of Genghis Khan, and it expanded quickly. In 1218, Taiyuan was conquested by the Mongol army led by General Muqali. Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty in 1271, and the administrative area of Taiyuan Lu ( 太原 路 ) was expanded.

The Taoist Longshan Grottoes was built in early Yuan dynasty, initiated by Taoist monk Song Defang ( 宋 德 芳 ).

Ming dynasty

In 1368, Hongwu Emperor established the Ming dynasty, and Taiyuan was obtained from Yuan, by General Xu Da.

The Ming dynasty installed Nine Military Garrisons to defend the northern territory during the reign of the Hongzhi Emperor, which included the Garrison of Taiyuan ( 太 原 镇 ).

Shanxi merchants 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.

In the ending period of Ming dynasty, the rebel leader Li Zicheng conquered Taiyuan, and Taiyuan became part of Great Shun temporarily in 1644. [ citation needed ]

Qing dynasty

In 1644, Shunzhi founded the Qing dynasty 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, Taiyuan became a significant trading center, due to its political and economical status in Shanxi. [19] [20]

In 1900, the Taiyuan Massacre occurred, during which a number of Western missionaries were killed. [21]

Taiyuan Cathedral, photographed by Edouard Chavannes in 1907 Taiyuan Cathedral 1907.jpg
Taiyuan Cathedral, photographed by Edouard Chavannes in 1907

Republic of China

The warlord Yan Xishan retained control of Shanxi from the Xinhai Revolution in 1911 to the end of the Chinese Civil War 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 in the north. Until the end of the Chinese Civil War 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. [22]

Chinese soldiers and civilians celebrating the victory at Pingxingguan in 1937 AntiJapaneseWar taiyuan.jpg
Chinese soldiers and civilians celebrating the victory at Pingxingguan in 1937

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 to establish a secret headquarters in Taiyuan. [23] 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 Beijing, Tianjin, and Northeast China. [24] A representative of the Japanese army, speaking of the final defense of Taiyuan, said that "nowhere in China have the Chinese fought so obstinately". [25]

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. [26]

Taiyuan Campaign Taiyuan Campaign2.jpg
Taiyuan Campaign

Taiyuan was the last area in Shanxi to resist Communist control during the final stages of the Chinese Civil War. 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. [27] Many Nationalist officers committed suicide when the city fell to a Communist army. [28]

Geography

Satellite image of Taiyuan Taiyuan 112.55998E 37.86930N.jpg
Satellite image of Taiyuan

Taiyuan lies on the Fen River in the north of its fertile upper basin. The city is located at the center of the province with an east–west span of 144 km (89 mi) and a north–south span of 107 km (66 mi). [4] [29] It commands the north–south route through the province, as well as important natural lines of transportation through the Taihang Mountains to Hebei in the east and to northern Shaanxi in the west.

Natural resources

Taiyuan is abundant in natural resources such as coal, iron, marble, silica, bauxite, limestone, graphite, quartz, phosphorus, gypsum, mica, copper, and gold. It boosts high production of coal, iron, silica and marble. The western satellite city of Gujiao is the largest production cite of metallurgical coal in China. The tree population in Taiyuan is dominated by coniferous forest, pine, white pine, spruce, and cypress. [30]

Climate

Taiyuan experiences a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk ). Spring is dry, with occasional dust storms, followed by early summer heat waves. 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, due to the moderately high altitude. The monthly 24-hour average temperature range from −5.0 °C (23.0 °F) in January to 24.0 °C (75.2 °F) in July, while the annual mean is 10.42 °C (50.8 °F). 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 6,988 km2 (2,698 sq mi). Taiyuan has a forest area of 146,700 hectares. and total grassland area of 422.5 km2 (163.1 sq mi) in 2007. [34] The forest area coverage rate in the six urban districts has been increased to 21.69% in 2015. [35]

Air pollution

Taiyuan had suffered from severe air pollution, especially in the 1990s, and the first decade of the 21st century, [36] and once it was even listed among one of ten most air polluted cities in the world. [37] 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. [38] 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. [39] 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. [39] In recent years, the city has taken further action to combat air pollution, creating a "coal-free zone" of 1,460 km2 in 2017. [40] This zone prevents most people and organizations from buying, selling, storing, transporting, burning, or using coal. [40] In 2019, the Taiyuan City Government expanded the size of this zone slightly, to a total of 1,574 km2. [40]

Map of the region including Taiyuan (labeled as T`AI-YUAN (YANGKU) Tai Yuan ) (AMS, 1956) Txu-oclc-10552568-nj49-12.jpg
Map of the region including Taiyuan (labeled as TʻAI-YÜAN (YANGKÜ) 太原) (AMS, 1956)

Administrative divisions

[ citation needed ]

Map
NameSimplified ChineseHanyu PinyinPopulation (2010)Area (km2)Density (/km2)
City Proper
Xiaodian District 小店区Xiǎodiàn Qū804,5372902,774
Yingze District 迎泽区Yíngzé Qū592,0071055,638
Xinghualing District 杏花岭区Xìnghuālǐng Qū643,5841464,408
Wanbailin District 万柏林区Wànbǎilín Qū749,2552892,592
Suburban and satellite cities
Jiancaoping District 尖草坪区Jiāncǎopíng Qū415,7052961,404
Jinyuan District 晋源区Jìnyuán Qū221,431290763
Gujiao City 古交市Gǔjiāo Shì205,1431,512135
Rural
Qingxu County 清徐县Qīngxú Xiàn343,861608565
Yangqu County 阳曲县Yángqǔ Xiàn120,2282,08457
Loufan County 娄烦县Lóufán Xiàn105,8411,28982

Demographics

At the 2010 census, Taiyuan prefecture had a total population of 4,201,591 inhabitants on 6,959 km2 (2,687 sq mi), from whom 3,212,500 are urban on 1,460 km2 (560 sq mi). [1]

Economy

Taiyuan Riverside Sports Arena Riverside Sports Arena in 2019.jpg
Taiyuan Riverside Sports Arena

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. [41] Disposable income per capita was reported to be 31,031 Yuan in 2018, a 7.2% increase from 2017. [42] In 2015, Taiyuan imported 4,085.130 million USD worth of goods, [43] and exported 6,592.250 million USD worth. [44] 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. [45] 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. [46]

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

A 1 route bus at Taiyuan 1-0003 at Taiyuan Railway Station (20170606224202).jpg
A 1 route bus at Taiyuan

The Taiyuan Metro is still under construction. Line 1 is set to open in 2024, while Line 2 has been operating since 26 December 2020. [ citation needed ]

In early 2016 the city began the conversion of all its 8000 taxi fleet into purely electric vehicles, initially using BYD Auto model E6. [47] [48]

Air

Taiyuan Airport Taiyuan airport (6246642416).jpg
Taiyuan Airport

The primary airport of the city is Taiyuan Wusu International Airport. 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. [49] International flights to Taipei and Da Nang are available. [50] [51]

Highway

Taiyuan has a number of major roads, Including the G5, G20 (including Shitai Expressway), G55, G2001 (Ring Highway around Taiyuan), G307, G108, G208. [ citation needed ]

Railway

Taiyuan Railway Station Taiyuan Railway Station 20180606.jpg
Taiyuan Railway Station

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 and Datong–Xi'an high-speed railway. By high-speed trains, the travel time between Taiyuan and Beijing is less than three hours on a distance of 600 km (370 mi). [52] The main high-speed railway station is Taiyuan South railway station. The conventional-speed Taiyuan–Zhongwei–Yinchuan railway, opened in 2011, provides a direct connection with western Shanxi, northern Shaanxi, Ningxia, and points further west.

Food

Tounao was created in Taiyuan. FuShanTouNao.jpg
Tounao was created in Taiyuan.

Taiyuan's local specialities include: [ citation needed ]

Sports

The Shanxi Brave Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association play at Riverside Sports Arena. The football club Shanxi Metropolis, currently playing in China League Two, plays in the Shanxi Sports Centre Stadium.

Tourism

Changfeng (Chang Feng ) footbridge on Fen River and Shanxi Theater. J81119 PasserelleChangfeng 20140703-154333.15.jpg
Changfeng (长风) footbridge on Fen River and Shanxi Theater.
Shanxi Folklore Museum courtyard with old Confucian temple. J81419 MuseeFolkloriqueDuShanxi 20140704-092158.96.jpg
Shanxi Folklore Museum courtyard with old Confucian temple.
The twin towers inside the Yongzuo Temple. Yongzuo Temple Twin Towers.jpg
The twin towers inside the Yongzuo Temple.
Jinci Temple Jin Ci Sheng Jing .JPG
Jinci Temple

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 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, in the city centre, are popular tourist destinations. [54]

Jinci Temple 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. [55]

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. [56]

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

Major schools

Colleges and universities

See also

International relations

Taiyuan has a friendship pairing with the following cities: [57] [58] [59]

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Shanxi 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-level cities are Changzhi and Datong. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋", after the state of Jin that existed there during the Spring and Autumn period.

Former Zhao Former Southern Xiongnu country

The Han Zhao, or Former Zhao, was a dynasty of Southern Xiongnu origin during Sixteen Kingdoms period of Chinese history coeval with the Sima clan's Jin dynasty. In Chinese historiography, it was given two conditional state titles, the Northern Han for the state proclaimed in 304 by Liu Yuan, and the Former Zhao for the state proclaimed in 319 by Liu Yao. The reference to them as separate states should be considered misleading, given that when Liu Yao changed the name of the state from "Han" to "Zhao" in 319, he treated the state as having been continuous from the time that Liu Yuan founded it in 304; instead, he de-established royal lineage from the Han dynasty and claimed ancestry directly from Yu the Great of the Xia dynasty.

Dynasties in Chinese history Hereditary monarchical regimes in historical China

Dynasties in Chinese history, or Chinese dynasties, were hereditary monarchical regimes that ruled over China during much of its history. From the inauguration of dynastic rule by Yu the Great in circa 2070 BC to the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor on 12 February 1912 in the wake of the Xinhai Revolution, China was ruled by a series of successive dynasties. Dynasties of China were not limited to those established by ethnic Han—the dominant Chinese ethnic group—and its predecessor, the Huaxia tribal confederation, but also included those founded by non-Han peoples.

Handan City in Hebei province, China

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 Shandong on the east. At the 2010 census, its population was 9,174,683 inhabitants whom 2,845,790 lived in the built-up area made of 5 urban districts. Yongnian District in Handan and Shahe City in Xingtai have largely formed into a single conurbation.

You Prefecture Ancient Chinese province

You Prefecture or Province, also known by its Chinese name Youzhou, was a prefecture (zhou) in northern China during its imperial era.

Guyuan Prefecture-level city in Ningxia, Peoples Republic of China

Guyuan (help·info), formerly known as Xihaigu, is a prefecture-level city in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. It occupies the southernmost section of the region, bordering Gansu province to the east, south, and due west. This is also the site of Mount Sumeru Grottoes (须弥山), which is among the ten most famous grottoes in China. As of the end of 2018, the total resident population in Guyuan was 1,124,200.

Gujiao County-level city in Shanxi, Peoples Republic of China

Gujiao is a county-level city of Shanxi Province, North China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Taiyuan. The estimated population of Gujiao in 2017 is about 222,000.

Sixteen Kingdoms Period of Chinese history (304–439) which northern China fractured into a series of transient states founded by the "Five Barbarians"

The Sixteen Kingdoms, less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from 304 to 439 CE when the political order of northern China fractured into a series of short-lived dynastic states, most of which were founded by the "Five Barbarians," non-Han peoples who had settled in northern and western China during the preceding centuries and participated in the overthrow of the Western Jin dynasty in the early 4th century. The kingdoms founded by ethnic Xiongnu, Xianbei, Di, Jie, Qiang, as well as Han and other ethnicities, took on Chinese dynastic names, and fought against one another and the Eastern Jin dynasty, which succeeded the Western Jin and ruled southern China. The period ended with the unification of northern China in the early 5th century by the Northern Wei, a dynasty established by the Xianbei Tuoba clan, and the history of ancient China entered the Northern and Southern dynasties period.

Shangdang Commandery or Shangdang Prefecture was an administrative subdivision of ancient China from the time of the Spring and Autumn period. Consisting of a number of districts or Zhōu (州), the prefecture covered roughly the area of modern-day Changzhi City in south east Shanxi Province.

Taiyuan Foreign Language School Public school in Taiyuan, Shanxi, China

Taiyuan Foreign Language School 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 the Ministry of Education. Locally, TFLS has one of the most competitive admission standards, and has been awarded "Key High School of Shanxi Province" and "Demonstrative High School of Shanxi Province" by Shanxi Provincial Ministry of Education.

Names of Beijing

"Beijing" is the atonal pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of the Chinese characters 北京, the Chinese name of the capital of China.

The history of Zhengzhou, a city that is today the provincial capital of Henan Province, China. spans over 10,000 years from its beginnings as a Neolithic settlement to its emergence as a trading port during the final years of the Qing Dynasty.

Yingze Street

Yingze Street is one of the main streets which was first constructed in 1956 in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China. It is designed to be 70 metres in width and was second to Chang’an Avenue" in Beijing at that time. It won the title of "The No.2 Street in China", "Chang'an Avenue in Taiyuan" and "The No.1 Street in Three-Jin". Yingze Street went through four additional periods of construction. Currently, it has 14 two-way motor roads, and two bicycle lanes, 2 pavements and 2 green areas. Yingze Street begins at Taiyuan Railway Station in the east and extends westwards to Nanhan Square crossing Fen River. It runs 10 kilometers and the western part of Fen River is called Yingze West Street. Landmarks which are situated along the street include Taiyuan Railway Station, May First Square, Yingze Park, Taiyuan Workers Cultural Palace, Yingze Hotel, Bingzhou Restaurant, China Coal Museum, Taiyuan University of Technology. Although Yangze Street is no longer the widest street in Taiyuan, it remains one of the symbols of Taiyuan.

Ji or Jicheng was an ancient city in northern China, which has become the longest continuously inhabited section of modern Beijing. Historical mention of Ji dates to the founding of the Zhou dynasty in about 1045 BC. Archaeological finds in southwestern Beijing where Ji was believed to be located date to the Spring and Autumn period. The city of Ji served as the capital of the ancient states of Ji and Yan until the unification of China by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC. Thereafter, the city was a prefectural capital for Youzhou through the Han dynasty, Three Kingdoms, Western Jin dynasty, Sixteen Kingdoms, Northern Dynasties, and Sui dynasty. With the creation of a Jizhou (蓟州) during the Tang dynasty in what is now Tianjin Municipality, the city of Ji took on the name Youzhou. Youzhou was one of the Sixteen Prefectures ceded to the Khitans during the Five Dynasties. The city then became the southern capital of the Liao dynasty and then main capital of the Jin dynasty (1115–1234). In the 13th century, Kublai Khan built a new capital city for the Yuan dynasty adjacent to Ji to the north. The old city of Ji became a suburb to Dadu. In the Ming dynasty, the old and new cities were merged by Beijing's Ming-era city wall.

Chen Chuanping is a former Chinese politician and businessman. Chen spent 26 years in state-owned Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Group) Co. Ltd, he served as the president of Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Group) Co. Ltd. from 2001 to 2008. He served as the Communist Party Secretary of Taiyuan between 2010 and 2014. Alongside Ling Jihua, Bai Yun, and others, he was removed from office in August 2014 for corruption, tried on charges of bribery, and sentenced to six years in prison.

Liu Suiji is a former Chinese politician and police officer from Shanxi Province. Liu served as the Secretary of the Taiyuan Political and Legislative Affairs Committee (Zhengfawei), in addition to being the provincial capital's police chief. In August 2014 Liu was placed under investigation by the Communist Party's anti-corruption agency.

Wang Weizhong is a Chinese politician, and current Communist Party Secretary of Shenzhen and Deputy Party Secretary of Guangdong province. A graduate of Tsinghua University, Wang rose through the ranks in the working for the Ministry of Science and Technology. He previously served as Party chief of Taiyuan.

Taiyuan Commandery was a commandery of China from the Warring States period to Tang dynasty. It was located in modern central Shanxi province.

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