3 Days in Taiyuan

Southwest of town, Jinci keeps the Song-dynasty Goddess Hall of 1023-1032 with its painted attendants, the Everlasting Spring and an ancient Zhou cypress — the trio locals call the three wonders. Twenty kilometres north, the Mengshan cliff Buddha carved from 551 re-emerged from the hillside in the 1980s.

1. taiyuan jinci temple
2. taiyuan mengshan buddha

Shanxi Museum holds bronzes from states that wrote the province's early chapters — free with reservation, closed Mondays. Afternoon at the Ming-era Chongshan temple hall and the Chunyang Gong Taoist cloister, then dusk on Food Street for lamb offal soup and vinegar-glazed snacks.

1. taiyuan shanxi museum
2. taiyuan chongshan temple
3. taiyuan chunyang gong
4. taiyuan food street

The Yongzuo temple's twin brick pagodas of about 55 metres became the city's emblem; peonies said to descend from Ming plantings bloom beneath them in April. Ride the simulated mine shaft at the Coal Museum, then a last riverside walk before the train.

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