10 Days in Taiyuan

Start at the Goddess Hall of 1023-1032 — painted attendants, the Everlasting Spring, the ancient cypress — then the gilded reclining Buddha of Jinyuan's Taishan temple, reliquary famous since 2008.

1. taiyuan jinci temple
2. taiyuan taishan temple

The 551 cliff Buddha on Mengshan's slope and, one ridge east, the 13th-century Taoist caves of Longshan — the province's rare rock-cut Taoist set.

1. taiyuan mengshan buddha
2. taiyuan longshan grottoes

About 25 caves on the mountain road; the Buddha head returned in 2020 stands in its place again. Evening inside the rebuilt Ming-county walls beside Jinyang lake.

1. Tianlongshan Grottoes
2. taiyuan ancient county city

Museum morning — bronzes from the province's early states, reserve ahead, closed Mondays — then the Ming hall at Chongshan and the Chunyang Gong cloister.

1. taiyuan shanxi museum
2. taiyuan chongshan temple
3. taiyuan chunyang gong

The 55-metre twins, the simulated mine ride, and an evening walk on the Fenhe line. If April, the pagoda peonies open their season.

1. taiyuan yongzuo twin pagodas
2. taiyuan coal museum
3. taiyuan fenhe park

The merchant-heritage halls in the former governor compound tell how Shanxi draft banks ran from here to Moscow's edge; afternoon market lanes and a Food Street grazing dinner.

1. taiyuan jinshang museum
2. taiyuan food street

Labelled — half an hour by HSR into Jinzhong's Pingyao, covered by its own pages here. The 6.4-kilometre walls, the 1823 draft-bank museum, and the painted halls of Shuanglin temple before the evening train.

1. pingyao city walls
2. pingyao rishengchang museum
3. pingyao shuanglin temple

Also labelled — the Qiao compound sits in Qi county under Jinzhong, about an hour out. Six courtyards, 19 smaller yards and 313 rooms in the commonly cited count, made screen-famous in 1991; pair it with the county's old streets.

1. taiyuan qiao family compound

Labelled honestly — Wutai lies in Xinzhou, three hours each way, so start at dawn. The temple clusters of the Taihuai basin sit around 1,700 metres beneath the 3,061-metre north terrace; stay overnight up top or take the late train back.

1. xinzhou wutai mountain

Recover at river level — a Fenhe riverside walk, a vinegar-and-noodle breakfast, market purchases for the road, then the HSR platform or the airport, both inside the city's own orbit.

1. taiyuan fenhe park
2. taiyuan food street