Writes of Passage

Foguang Village, Doucun Town,
Wutai County, Xinzhou City
Shanxi Province
山西省忻州市五台县豆村镇佛光村

The buddhist temple is 80 miles NE of Taiyuan. The main hall – Great East Hall was built in the year 857, which was Tang Dynasty (618-907).

• 中国现存木结构古建筑前50座

wiki Foguang Temple is a Buddhist temple located five kilometres from Doucun, Wutai County, Shanxi Province of China. The major hall of the temple is the Great East Hall, built in 857 AD, during the Tang Dynasty (618

Neihuan Street South 南内环颐高数码港对面
Taiyuan, China
0351-4173777

A decent chain restaurant to dine and entertain. Tasteful dishes with good presentation.

One of the breads is named after a historical couple: Wudalang pancakes 武大郎饼 and Pan Jinglian veggie 潘金莲菜. The fictional story goes that Wudalang was a timid and hideous man who sold bread for a living. He had fortune (or misfortune) to marry a very beautiful woman who’s strong sexual need… The pancake tastes light and delicious.

Ping Yao is well-preserved city from the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046

Banquet Health Hotpot
Taiyuan, China
太原市小店区体育南路（南中环街东南角）
0351-6950333

An upscale restaurant. We dine in the private room. While waiting, they served a plate of fruits, which is nice since our lunch was pretty hot.

Before the hotpot, we have some various dishes that are finely presented and taste wonderful. I particularly enjoy the durian pastry (better than Flushing’s) and consumed two.

Taiyuan 太原市 (wiki) is the capital city, also the largest city of Shanxi province 山西省, 167 miles/270 km south of Datong. It appears to me, pretty modern. I visit it twice, both times in the evenings for dinner.

A great feature in parking lot at Taiyuan train station: swipe for parking location 刷卡定位方便取车. The cars at the train station parking lot look decent … and they buy an extra seat belt buckle to silent the car

JinZhong 晋中市 is connecting to Taiyuan on the northwest front. After her military service, Grandaunt Qiao set up her root in Yuci, now renamed/zoned JinZhong (since 1999). They’ve four childen, of two are still living there. A short video.

Eden International is a top tier hotel in JinZhong. My aunt checked me in there, thinking it’s more convenient. But I moved out to be with Grandaunt Qiao the following day.

Housing prices are skyrocketing in China but for some families, they’ve more homes than they actually need. Old City of Yuci 榆次老城 is an easy 15 minutes walk from Eden.

Shanxi West of the Mountains (Jin 晋) is a province in northern China. Taiyuan is the capital city, 310 miles/500 km southwest of Beijing. The four major cities:

• Taiyuan (Yuci/JinZhong)
• Datong
• Changzhi 长治
• Yangquan 阳泉

The province is situated on a plateau 在高原, the valleys make an interesting landscape. Mountains are Taihang Mountains, Mount Hua  and Mount Wutai (Wutai Shan). The Great Wall forms much of the border with Inner Mongolia, the Yellow River forms the western border of Shanxi with Shaanxi.