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Travel in Shanxi
The Yungang Grottoes
Travel in Shanxi

             Yungang Grottoes

Brief Introduction

The Yungang Grottoes (yún gāng shí kū 云冈石窟), together with Longmen Grottoes (lóng mén shí kū 龙门石窟), and Mogao Grottoes (mò gāo kū 莫高窟) are the three major cave clusters in China. The Yungang Grottoes lie on the north cliff of Wuzhou Mountain (wǔ zhōu shān 武周山), Datong (dà tóng 大同). They occupy 1 km (0.62 miles) from east to west, and hold 53 caves and over 51,000 stone statues. There are three zones of the grottoes. Caves in the eastern parts are mainly made up of pagodas. Small and mid-sized niches are in the west caves. In addition, visitors can see many front and back chambers with Buddha status in the middle caves. All the walls and ceilings are covered by embossing. As excellent examples of rock-cut architecture, in 2001, the Yungang Grottoes became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to UNESCO, they are a "masterpiece of early Chinese Buddhist cave art...represent the successful fusion of Buddhist religious symbolic art from south and central Asia with Chinese cultural traditions."

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Mount Wutai: A Holy Land of Buddhism
Travel in Shanxi

Mount Wutai

Brief Introduction

Mount Wutai (wǔ tái shān 五台山) is one of the Four Sacred Mountains in Chinese Buddhism. It lies in Xinzhou Region, Shanxi Province. Mount Wutai is the only one mountain in China mentioned by Buddhist scriptures, and appeared in many Buddhist books as well. Apart from the aspect of religion, Mount Wutai is also a notable and attractive tourist resort. There are more than 600 kinds of plants; over 150 of them can be used as rare herbs. The splendour of the mountains, exotic rocks, clear waters and green forests make Mount Wutai become one of the popular travel destinations in China. In 2009, Mount Wutai became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Travel Guide in Taiyuan
Travel in Shanxi

  Taiyuan

Brief Introduction

Taiyuan (tài yuán 太原), as the capital city of Shanxi Province, is the political, economic and cultural centre of the province. It located in the middle part of the Yellow River Basin of north China and surrounded by mountains on three sides. Therefore, it was an important military town in ancient time. Taiyuan has a long history of over 2,500 years and famous for its historic buildings and magnificent culture. It is known as “the Dragon City”, for the reason that Taiyuan has been the birthplace of many emperors. For example, Li Shiming, the founder and emperor of Tang Dynasty, used Taiyuan as a base to support his uprising, and finally established Tang. A lot of ancient Chinese poets were from Taiyuan as well. At present, with the abundant coal resources, Taiyuan is one of the important heavy industrial cities in China. It is also awarded as “the National Garden City” in 2010.

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Pingyao Ancient City
Travel in Shanxi

Pingyao (Chinese: 平遥; pinyin: Píngyáo) is a Chinese city and county in central Shanxi province. It lies about 715 km from Beijing and 80 km from the provincial capital, Taiyuan. During the Qing Dynasty, Pingyao was a financial center of China. It is now renowned for its well-preserved ancient city wall, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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