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China Travel Guide » Places in China » Shanxi Province
Places in China: Shanxi Province
Although Shanxi is not usually on the list for most exciting places to travel in China, this province has quite a number of outstanding attractions that should not be overlooked. The province in northern China has Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Hebei and Henan Provinces as next-door neighbours with the Great Wall of China acting as part of the northern border of the province. Do not confuse Shanxi with Shaanxi; they are distinct provinces although they border each other.
More than thirty-three million people occupy the 156,400 square kilometres of land area in Shanxi, making for a population density of around 213 per square kilometre. Those people are more than ninety-nine percent Han Chinese with Hui, Manchu and Mongolian ethnic groups composing the remaining less than one percent.
The capital of Shanxi Province is Taiyuan. It is a good stopover when travelling between Beijing and Xian and is around 450 kilometres from the nation's capital of Beijing. The downtown area of Taiyuan is modern with restaurants, hotels and banks. Located in the centre of the province, the city is surrounded by some of the richest coal fields and iron ore deposits in the world. It is the industrial centre of Shanxi. However, industry is not its only attraction. There are monasteries, parks and temples galore there.
Another great industrial city in the province is Datong on the northern side of Shanxi. In the past, it was an area where Buddhism flourished. The city now is a major producer of coal and heavy industrial output. Tourist attractions at Datong include caves constructed by Buddhist converts, temples, one of China's five sacred mountains as well as the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda dating back to the eleventh century.
The province is also home to a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, the Pingyao Ancient City built in 1370 AD.
Natural beauty is another feature of Shanxi with the Yellow River's Kettle Spout waterfalls (Hukou Waterfalls) and Mount Wutai (Mountain of Five Terraces) bringing visitors to their locations.
Farming and lumber production are not too successful in this province due to the constant advancing of the Gobi Desert and soil erosion. They rely mostly in the large coal reserves as well as industrial productions of heavy machinery and textile mills for provincial income.
The temperate zone type of weather favours visits in the autumn or spring since summers are hot and winters are long and cold.
Major cities in Shanxi:
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