Shanxi Promotes Tourism with Top Attractions in Northeast China

Shanxi’s Tourism Bureau set off a second tourism promotion tour on June 23, to stop in Northeast China’s cities of Shenyang, Changchun and Harbin.

Six scenic spots in the province are offering a joint promotion package in this schedule. Over 1,000 tickets were given out to attract tourists from Shenyang, Changchun and Harbin to travel to Shanxi.

Shanxi’s long history has provided abundant cultural tourism resources. Though “good wine needs no bush”, Shanxi’s image relies on coal more than on tourism. The tourism promotion works to change this image and fuel the province’s economic restructuring.

The promotion in the Northeast China was Shanxi’s second promotion tour after stops in Sichuan, Chongqing and Hubei.

Pingyao is a small town in central Shanxi province whose history goes back 2,700 years, when it was first built during the reign of King Xuan (827-782 BC) of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Its urban fabric shows the evolution of architectural styles and town planning in ancient China over five centuries. The town’s imposing buildings were mostly associated with banking. From the 19th century to the early 20th century, the Ancient City of Pingyao was a financial center for the whole of China. The old town of Pingyao went on the world cultural heritage list in 1997.

Mount Wutai, located in the northeastern part of Shanxi province, is one of the Chinese four sacred Buddhist mountains. It is a national 5-A tourist attraction approved by the National Tourism Administration and was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Wutai is also one of China's oldest sites for Buddhist temples, with work on temples and monasteries beginning during the Yongping period of the Eastern Han Dynasty (58-75AD). There are still plenty of temples and monasteries, with pagodas towering over them, Wutai's architecture comes from different dynasties and there are sculptures, stone inscriptions, frescoes, and calligraphy in all of them.

The Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, also known as Sakyamuni Pagoda of the Fogong Temple, is located in Yingxian county of Shanxi province. This wooden pagoda is the tallest and most ancient pagoda among the extant wooden pagodas in China. The pagoda still remains intact though it experienced earthquakes and wars many times in the past 900 years beginning with the Liao Dynasty (916-1125).

The Yungang Grottoes iare located at the southern foot of Wuzhou Mountain, 16 kilometers west of Datong, Shanxi province. They extend about 1 kilometers from east to west. The construction of the caves began in 453 AD and took 50 years to complete. They have 45 caves, 252 shrines and over 51,000 statues at present.

Taihang Mountain Grand Canyon is located at the border of Shanxi and Henan province, southeast of Huguan county in Changzhi, 250 kilometers from Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province. The vegetation coverage in this tourist attraction hits 74.9 percent. The 93-square-kilometer scenic spot is home to immense forests, steep cliffs, crystal-clear springs, splashing waterfalls, and ancient temples. This attraction is recognized as a successful case of tourism integration in Shanxi.


The Haizhou Emperor Guan Temple is located in Yuncheng, Shanxi province, and was first built during the Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618) and was expanded and rebuilt during the Song (960-1279) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties. The scenic spot covers 220,000 sq meters. It was listed as a national 4-A scenic spot and was added to the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List.