Atlas of China
Shanxi 山西Shānxī
Loess hills, ancient timber temples, merchant towns and a love of vinegar
- Type
- Province
- Capital
- Taiyuan
- Featured places
- 23
- Cities and prefectures
- 11
- Listed sites
- 5852 rated 5A · 148 rated 4A · 473 national heritage
About Shanxi
Shanxi holds a large share of China's oldest surviving wooden buildings, from Tang-dynasty temple halls to the towering timber pagoda at Yingxian, nearly a thousand years old, scattered among terraced loess hills. The walled city of Pingyao and the courtyard mansions of merchant clans recall the era when Shanxi bankers moved silver across the empire. Buddhist art reaches a peak in the Yungang Grottoes near Datong and among the monasteries of Wutai Shan.
Shanxi at a glance
- Area
- 156,000 km²
- Population
- 34.9 million 2020
- Highest point
- Mount Wutai 五台山3,061 m
- Borders
- Hebei, Henan, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi
Area, population and highest point from Wikidata; the population is the latest census or official estimate there.
What to eat in Shanxi
- Knife-cut noodles (刀削面)
- Oat-flour honeycomb rolls (莜面栲栳栳)
- Shanxi aged vinegar (老陈醋)
Places to visit in Shanxi
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Pingyao Ancient City 平遥古城
An intact Ming walled town of courtyard inns, where China's first draft banks were born
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Mount Wutai 五台山
Temples, a towering white stupa and yellow-tiled roofs below five flat-topped holy peaks
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Yungang Grottoes 云冈石窟
Giant Buddhas carved into a sandstone cliff some 1,500 years ago
-
Hukou Waterfall 壶口瀑布
The muddy Yellow River squeezed into a roaring rock chute between Shanxi and Shaanxi
-
Datong Ancient City 大同古城
Rebuilt Ming ramparts around genuine Liao–Jin temple halls and a glazed dragon screen
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Hanging Temple 悬空寺
A wooden temple pinned to a sheer cliff, seemingly propped up on stilts
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Jinci Temple 晋祠
Song-dynasty halls, painted clay maidservants and a cross-shaped bridge at the Jin springs
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Qikou Ancient Town and Lijiashan Village 碛口古镇·李家山村
Stone lanes of an old Yellow River port and a hillside village of stacked cave homes
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Taihang Grand Canyon 太行山大峡谷
Sheer gorges in the Taihang Mountains, explored by boat, cliff path and cable car
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Yingxian Wooden Pagoda 应县木塔
A Liao-dynasty timber pagoda of 1056, five storeys outside and nine within
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Foguang Temple 佛光寺
A Tang timber hall of 857 on a quiet hillside, still filled with its Tang clay statues
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Guangsheng Temple 广胜寺
A 13-storey glazed-tile pagoda above Yuan halls and murals, among them a theatre scene
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Huangcheng Xiangfu 皇城相府
A walled hillside estate of courtyards, towers and gardens built by a family of officials
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Mount Mian 绵山
Cliff temples, plank walkways and gorges on the mountain of the Cold Food legend
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Qiao Family Compound 乔家大院
Walled courtyards of a Qing merchant-banking family, the set for Raise the Red Lantern
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Wang Family Compound 王家大院
Fortified courtyard 'castles' of a Qing merchant and official clan on a loess hillside
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Xiezhou Guandi Temple 解州关帝庙
Gateways, halls and towers honouring the deified general Guan Yu in his home district
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Yanmen Pass 雁门关
A Ming fortress gate on the Inner Great Wall, its ramparts running up the mountain ridges
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Yongle Palace 永乐宫
Yuan-dynasty Taoist murals in a temple moved piece by piece to make way for a reservoir
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Yuncheng Salt Lake 运城盐湖
Brine ponds that turn red, pink and green in summer, below the Zhongtiao Mountains
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Shuanglin Temple 双林寺
Some 2,000 painted clay Buddhas, saints and guardians crowded into ten temple halls
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Xiaoxitian Temple 小西天
A small hilltop hall crowded with nearly 2,000 painted clay Buddhist figures
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Shanxi Museum 山西博物院
Bronzes of the ancient state of Jin, Buddhist statues and tomb treasures on the Fen River
Listed sites in Shanxi
585 sites in Shanxi are on the official lists, 2 of them rated 5A and 473 protected as national heritage. They are listed by city, with what each is and how to get there.
All 585 listed sites in ShanxiCities and prefectures of Shanxi
- Changzhi 长治 City
Rare Five Dynasties timber in the hills and a Taihang canyon of 3,400 ravines - Datong 大同 City
Coal city with 51,000 cave statues and a temple hung on a cliff face - Jincheng 晋城 City
Fortified mansions, Tang clay figures and cliff views on the Henan border - Jinzhong 晋中 City · Yuci
Walled Pingyao, temples of painted clay and the bankers' courtyard mansions - Linfen 临汾 City
Emperor Yao's land, a rediscovered Buddhist canon and a Yellow River funnel - Lüliang 吕梁 City · Lishi
A Yellow River port, cave-dwelling villages and the home of Fenjiu - Shuozhou 朔州 City
Home of China's oldest fully wooden pagoda, by the Inner Mongolia border - Taiyuan 太原 City
Song-dynasty shrines, Ming twin pagodas and a medicinal breakfast soup - Xinzhou 忻州 City
Pilgrim peaks, Tang timber halls and a Great Wall gate at Yanmen - Yangquan 阳泉 City
A Great Wall pass named, by tradition, for a Tang princess's women soldiers - Yuncheng 运城 City
Salt pans in rainbow colours, Guan Yu's home town and murals saved from a dam
Before you go
- Visas and visa-free entry Can I visit China without a visa?
- Paying for things How do I pay for things in China without a Chinese bank account?
- Internet and apps Will Google and my other apps work in China?
- Trains and 12306 How do I book train tickets in China with a foreign passport?
- Book popular sights early Which sights in China need booking in advance, and how?
- When to go When is the best time to visit China?
On the map
Open Shanxi on the illustrated map to see where its places sit, how far apart they are, and to add them to a trip.
Open Shanxi on the map