Taiyuan

Taiyuan is one of China's key heavy industry centres and capital of landlocked Shanxi Province in North China. It has drafted an ambitious plan to make full use of its tourist attractions under construction. Encompassing 6,959 square kilometres, Taiyuan has a population of 3 million.

Taiyuan has existed for 2,500 years and a large number of cultural relics and ancient buildings in and around it. Despite being a heavy, energy and chemical industry centre, Taiyuan is home to many ancient buildings, such as the Ming Double Tower and the Tianlongshan Grottoes. Taiyuan also has an abundance of folk culture and is reputed for its noodles. With the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy, there has been a significant improvement in Taiyuan's infrastructure, such as railways, roads and telecommunications. There are currently 43 air routes linking the city with other parts of the country. Taiyuan has paid much attention to the development of the tourist industry since the establishment of the Tourism Bureau by the end of 1996. It now has about 30 tourist hotels catering to overseas visitors. Construction of Fenhe River Tourism Zone began in 1997. It was completed in 1999 at a cost of 400 million yuan (US$ 48 million). Another tourist zone in Shentang Gully, costing 1.2 billion yuan (US$ 144 million), opened to the public in 2000.