Taiyuan

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Location within China

Taiyuan (Chinese: 太原; pinyin: Tàiyuán; Wade-Giles: T'ai-yüan lit. "Great Plains") is a prefecture-level city in China, capital of the Shanxi province. The city has an eleavtion of about 800 meters.

1 History
2 Economy
3 Tourism
4 Sister cities
5 Colleges and universities
6 External links

Taiyuan is an ancient capital, constructed by Zhaojianzi (趙簡子/赵简子) in ca. 500 BC, named Jinyang (晉陽/晋阳). It was renamed Taiyuan in the Qin Dynasty. Several Kings came from this city, therefore the other name of the city is "Dragon City".

A new city was built in 562 AD, which was later linked to the old city during the Tang Dynasty (733 AD).

In 617 AD, Li Yuan and his son Li Shimin rebelled against Sui Dynasty, and founded the Tang.

The oldest existing building in the city is the Temple of Goddess (聖母殿/圣母殿) inside the Jin Ci Complex; it was originally built in 1023 AD and reconstructed in 1102 AD.

The city had been deliberately flooded several times: 453 BC, 969 AD, and was destroyed by war in 1125 AD.

During Ming Dynasty, the city wall was reconstructed in 1568 AD.

The GDP per capita was 12,821 yuan (US$1,550) in 2003, ranked no. 171 among 659 Chinese cities. In 2005, Taiyuan's nominal GDP was 89.55 billion yuan, a growth of 14.7% from the previous year. Taiyuan's primary, secondary, and tertiary industries were worth 2 billion yuan, 43.07 billion yuan, and 44.48 billion yuan respectively. There are several big companies are in City of Taiyuan. Such as Tai Yuan Steel LTD. [1]

Tourist attractions in and around Taiyuan include [2]:

Chongshan Monastery
Jinci Temple
Twin Pagoda Temple
Mount Wutai (五台山）
Shuanglin Monastery
Liu Xiang

Also, Taiyuan is known for its Liuxiang shopping district and the construction of parks and recreational areas on both sides of the Fen River that are specifically praised by the UN Environmental Programme for its role in the improvement in the environmental condition of Taiyuan. Taiyuan's environmental improvement project is being copied in many other Chinese cities and urban areas around the world.