Daixian

Daixian County, also known as Daizhou, is located in the north of Shanxi Province and northeast of the Qizhou area, and 158 km to the south of Taiyuan City.

With a long history and numerous cultural relics, Daixian County is rich in cultural heritage. Historic relics include a site of the Neolithic Age, the sites of the Great Wall and castles constructed in the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), the site of 39 castles and 12 connected walls built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and so on. Besides, there are the Yanmen Pass, the Bianjing Building, the Temple of Literature, and the Ancestral Temple of Yang Zhongwu, the Taoist Temple of Zhao Gao, the Pagoda of King Asoka, and the Phoenix Taoist Temple, etc. Ancient tombs include the tombs of King Jin whose name was Li Ke and his adopted son Li Cun, the tomb of Teng Maoshi, assistant minister of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), and the tombs of Zhang Fengyi and Sun Chuanting, ministers of the Ming Dynasty.

Daizhou used to be a famous center of business and commerce, and in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) its stores reached 131. At present, more than 3,000 precious cultural relics such as gold, stone and pottery objects are preserved in the county. The cultural relics combine the characteristics of the Hu and Han peoples and form their unique features, including rich dietary culture, elaborate architecture and ceremonious folk customs. Among all, paper cutting, dough modeling, embroidery and carvings make viewers gasp in admiration; dancing, boating and wrestling boast unique enchantment. The newly emerged folk painting spreads its fame far and wide to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan as well as Norway and Sweden in North Europe, Argentina and Uruguay in South America, etc.

Daixian County abounds in natural resources. Its golden crisp pear, luscious and tasty, is reputed as high-grade fruit and sells quite well in Hong Kong and Macao; the county is one of the four production bases in China for red capsicum, and its red capsicum has enjoyed a great reputation for a long time and entered restaurants in Europe and America; the rice produced in the area around the Lütuo River is of top grade among rice products, and late Chairman Mao once spoke highly of it. The southern and northern mountains in the county are abundant in iron, rutile and gold, and have a good prospect for mineral exploitation.

Daixian is located in a temperate continental semi-arid climate zone. The four seasons are clearly demarcated. In winter, it is cold with slight snow; in spring, it is warm, dry and windy; in summer, it is fervent with plenty of rain; while in autumn, the sky is high and the weather is fine.