Things to do in Taiyuan
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Taiyuan
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best spring window, mild walking weather, with Xinghuacun apricot blossom in late March and April.
Best autumn window, clear air, West Mountain foliage from October and harvest season at Xinghuacun.
Hot with rain concentrated in July and August, and school holiday crowds. Mount Wutai stays cool at 18 to 20C.
Cold heating season with the year's worst air, but empty sights, cheap hotels and tounao season from October to March.
Golden Week around 1 October brings national crowds, sold out trains and a packed Pingyao.
What's on
- Lantern Festival 15th day of Lunar New Year, usually February
Lantern celebrations light up Taiyuan Ancient County Town, the one winter date worth timing a trip around.
- Xinghuacun Apricot Blossom late March to early April
Century old apricot trees bloom in the Fenjiu village of Xinghuacun.
- Taiyuan Marathon September, date varies by year
The city marathon closes riverside roads for a morning along the Fen River.
- West Mountain Red Leaves late October to November
Foliage season in the West Mountain hills above Jinci, at its best in late autumn.
Best things to do in Taiyuan
Jinci Temple
Song dynasty ancestral temple garden with the Holy Mother Hall, 43 painted statues, a cross shaped bridge and a 3000 year old cypress.
Shanxi Museum
One of China's best provincial museums, free with reservation, anchored by the Western Zhou Bird Zun bronze.
Twin Pagoda Temple
Taiyuan's emblem, two Ming dynasty brick pagodas of 53 metres in a temple courtyard with a spring peony garden.
Chongshan Monastery
A quiet working monastery in the old centre with Ming statues and a rare set of Song edition printed sutras.
Mengshan Giant Buddha
A Northern Qi cliff Buddha older than Leshan, reached by a forested walk past temples and a Song pagoda.
Zhonglou Street
The old centre evening walk, where Bell Tower Street, Liu Xiang and Food Street fill with noodle shops and night market stalls.
Coal Museum of China
The national coal museum, with a simulated underground mine tour that explains what built modern Shanxi.
Taiyuan Ancient County Town
A rebuilt Ming Qing walled town and Full River Red film set, best seen lantern lit after a morning at Jinci.
Where to stay in Taiyuan
Yingze and Liuxiang Zhonglou centre
first trip, eating base
The historic commercial heart, with Food Street eating, Metro Line 2 and the old city temples on foot.
Changfeng and the southern new districts
new hotels and mall convenience
Newer towers and big malls on the west bank and in the south, a taxi ride from the old city temples.
Jinci and Jinyuan
Jinci at opening time
A quiet specialist base by Jinci Temple and the Ancient County Town, too far out for a general stay.
Think twice about
- Taiyuan Railway Station perimeter
Touts, variable budget hotels, fumes and late night noise. Use it for trains and sleep ten minutes away in Liuxiang.
- Far southern Xiaodian and South Station sprawl
Office parks and arterial roads where you taxi everywhere, eat in malls and see nothing of the city.
- Heavy industrial west bank fringe
No visitor reason to sleep there, the worst air when the wind is wrong, and no sight except the Coal Museum nearby.
Best restaurants in Taiyuan
Shan Xi Guild Hall
Taiyuan's showpiece Shanxi banquet restaurant, with themed private rooms, open kitchens and the full formal repertoire.
Paulaner Bräuhaus Taiyuan
A Munich style brewhouse inside the Kempinski, and the closest thing Taiyuan has to a celebratory group night out.
Lao Taiyuan Restaurant
The canonical old Taiyuan table by Yingze Park, for copper hotpot, crispy chicken, oat noodles and hawthorn juice.
Donghu Vinegar Garden
The Donghu vinegar garden and museum, where aged vinegars are tasted neat by age among traditional workshops and jars.
Qingheyuan Restaurant
The classic house for tounao, Taiyuan's winter breakfast soup of lamb, yellow liquor, lotus root and yam.
Zhao Laoqifei Sliced Noodles
Knife cut noodles shaved to order by a fifth generation master of a Qing dynasty family recipe in Liuxiang.
Hao Ganggang Yangza Ge Dian
The famous name for yang za ge, Taiyuan's peppery lamb offal soup breakfast, with flatbread torn into the broth.
Yang Ji Guan Chang
Buckwheat guan chang on Food Street, steamed, sliced and dressed in a garlicky vinegar marinade for about ten yuan.
Outdoor things to do in Taiyuan
Pingyao Ancient City
China's best preserved walled Ming Qing city and the bigger draw near Taiyuan, best experienced with an overnight inside the walls.
Mount Wutai
One of China's four sacred Buddhist mountains, a cool high valley of temples that needs one or two nights, not a day trip.
Qiao Family Compound
The great Shanxi merchant mansion of six courtyards, filmed in Raise the Red Lantern, on the road to Pingyao.
Tianlongshan Grottoes
Northern Qi to Tang grottoes above Jinci, reached by a famous switchback mountain road, and best paired with Jinci Temple.
Fenhe Park
The landscaped Fen River banks for cycling, running and sunset views back to the Twin Pagodas, free and open all day.
Fenjiu Museum
The home of Fenjiu baijiu in Apricot Blossom Village, with a museum, old workshops and tastings up to raw high proof spirit.
Taiyuan Chenjing Golf Club
Shanxi's first golf club, an 18 hole par 71 parkland course in Forest Park, booked through your hotel concierge.
Best hotels in Taiyuan
Kempinski Hotel Taiyuan
Taiyuan's most reviewed five star by Liuxiang, with a metro entrance, big pool and the Paulaner brewhouse in house.
Wanda Vista Taiyuan
The Wanda flagship on Jiefang Road, with large rooms and service reviewers rate as true five star for Taiyuan.
Pullman Taiyuan
The Accor option in Xinghualing, with an indoor pool and staff praised for helping non Chinese speaking guests.
Shanxi Jinci Hotel
A garden resort hotel by Jinci Temple, built for an early start at the temple and a quiet edge of city night.
Holiday Inn Express Taiyuan High Tech Zone
A standardised budget chain base in the south, sensible for late arrivals and early high speed trains from Taiyuan South.
Is Taiyuan expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CN¥350 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CN¥750 a person |
| Splurge | CN¥1,800 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Shanxi Museum: a few days ahead
- Pingyao Ancient City: a few days ahead
- Mount Wutai: weeks ahead
- Fenjiu Museum: a few days ahead
- Taiyuan Chenjing Golf Club: weeks ahead
- Shan Xi Guild Hall: a few days ahead
- Reserve the free Shanxi Museum up to 3 days ahead by real name booking, and never plan it for a Monday.
- Book Taiyuan to Pingyao trains and Pingyao and Wutai lodging early for weekends and Golden Week.
- Arrange Fenjiu distillery tours at Xinghuacun ahead in blossom and harvest seasons.
- Reserve Guild Hall banquet rooms, Paulaner group tables and Chenjing golf through your hotel.
Is Taiyuan safe?
- Check the AQI in the November to March heating season and carry a KN95 for bad air days.
- Winter is properly cold, with January averaging around minus 5C, so dress for colder than Beijing.
- Spring winds can carry loess dust, so pack sunglasses for March and April.
Taiyuan travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Skipping Taiyuan as a pure transfer costs you Jinci Temple and the Shanxi Museum.
- Taiyuan Ancient County Town is a reconstruction and film set, not a substitute for Pingyao.
- Food Street stalls skew generic, so eat the named Taiyuan institutions on and off the main drag.
- A same day Mount Wutai return means about eight hours in a car for two hours in temples.
Getting around Taiyuan: public transport and more
- Metro Line 2 threads Liuxiang, Zhonglou Street and Dananmen, and Line 1 links Taiyuan South Station to Liuxiang in about 30 minutes.
- Use taxis or DiDi for Jinci, Mengshan and Tianlongshan, which are dispersed or car only.
- Taiyuan Station in the centre is not Taiyuan South Station, the main high speed hub 30 plus minutes south.
- Shared bikes at about 1.5 yuan per half hour are the best way to ride the Fenhe banks.
Who Taiyuan suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Taiyuan your trip
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