Experience the best of Taiyuan

Taiyuan sits on the Fen River in a basin between mountains, in the north of Shanxi province, and has been a regional centre for more than two thousand years. The city is modern and industrial, with coal behind its growth, but its main sights are ancient. The Jinci Temple, a complex of halls, bridges and ancient cypresses south-west of the centre, goes back more than a thousand years.

The Shanxi Museum presents the province's history through bronzes, Buddhist statues and ceramics, and the twin pagodas of Yongzuo Temple are the city's emblem on the south-eastern skyline. Pingyao, a walled Ming and Qing town with old banking houses, lies to the south, and the Buddhist mountain of Wutai is a long way to the north-east.

Shanxi is the land of noodles, cut by knife from a block of dough or pulled by hand, and of mature vinegar, which flavours dishes across the province. Mutton and steamed breads fill out the table. Autumn is dry and clear, and winters are cold.