Taiyuan, China

Location within China

Taiyuan (Chinese: 太原; pinyin: Tàiyuán; Wade-Giles: T'ai-yüan) is a prefecture-level city in China, capital of the Shanxi province. Taiyuan has a population of approximately 1.83 million people and a metropolitan area of about 2.93 million people. [1]

The GDP per capita was ¥12821 (ca. US$1550) in 2003, ranked no. 171 among 659 Chinese cities.

History

Taiyuan is an ancient capital, constructed by Zhaojianzi (赵简子) in ca. 500 BC, named Jinyang (晋阳). It was renamed Taiyuan in the Qin Dynasty.

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) 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.

Colleges and Universities

• Shanxi University (山西大学) (founded 1902)
• Taiyuan University of Technology (太原理工大学)
• Taiyuan Normal University (太原师范学院)
• North China University of Science and Technology (华北工学院)
• Shanxi Agricultural University (山西农业大学)
• Shanxi Medical University (山西医科大学)
• Shanxi College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (山西中医学院)
• Shanxi University of Finance & Economics (山西财经大学)