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Geographical Location
 Shanxi
Province is situated in the middle of the Yellow River
valley, lying between latitude 34034'-40044' north and
longitude 110015'-114032' east. Its location west of the
Taihang Mountains gives the province its name, Shanxi,
meaning "west of the mountain."
Capital:
Taiyuan
Major Cities: Taiyuan, Datong, Changzhi, Yuci, Yangquan, Linfen,
Houma, Jiexiu
Neighboring
Areas: Hebei, Henan, and Shaanxi Provinces; Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region
Attractions
in Shanxi
Population:
Shanxi has a population of 31.41 million, with
natural population growth controlled within 9¡ë.
Ethnicity:
 The
largest ethnic group in Shanxi, the Han, account for 99.75
percent of the total population. The province also has
34 ethnic minority groups, including the Hui, Manchu,
Mongolian, Korean and Tibetan, with 67,000 people. There
are 58 villages where ethnic minority groups live in compact
communities.
Administrative division:
There are 10 cities directly under the provincial
government. They are Taiyuan, Datong, Changzhi, Yangquan,
Jinzhong, Jincheng, Xinzhou, Shuozhou, Linfen and Yuncheng.
Shanxi also has one prefecture, Luliang, and 118 counties
(cities and districts).
Topography:
Situated in the Bohai Rim Economic Development Zone
in north China, Shanxi covers an area of 156,000 square
km, with forests constituting 20 percent, or about 3.44
million hectares.
Mountains:
the Taihang Range in eastern Shanxi includes Mount Wutai
and Mount Hengshan; the Luliang Mountains are the watershed
of the Yellow and Fenhe Rivers
Rivers: Fenhe River, a tributary of the Yellow
River
Climate:
Temperate,
continental, monsoonal climate; long, cold winters and
mild summers; warmer in the south than in the north
Average Temperature: -16 C
to -2C
in January,19C
to 28C
in Jul
Annual Average Rainfall: 350 - 700 mm; high precipitation
in the southeast and low in the northwest; 60 percent
of the rain falls in summer
Mineral resources:
 Shanxi
abounds in mineral resources. Of the more than 120 kinds
of underground minerals so far discovered in the province,
53 have verified reserves. Of them, reserves of coal,
bauxite, pearlite, gallium and zeolite rank first in the
nation. The province is especially noted as the ¡°kingdom
of coal,¡± with verified reserves amounting
to 261.2 billion tons, accounting for one-third of the
nation¡¯s total.
Flora resources:
Shanxi has about 1,700 species of known seed plants
in 134 families, including more than 480 kinds of woody
plants. In terms of flora resource distribution, the southern
and southeastern parts of the province are richest in
diversity of vegetation types and plant species. They
include broadleaved deciduous forests, estival (summer)
broadleaved forests composed chiefly of secondary deciduous
shrubs, and mixed coniferous and broadleaved forests.
The central part has vaster expanses of forests, mainly
composed of coniferous forests, mesophytic deciduous scrub
forests and estival broadleaved forests. The northern
and northwestern parts are rich in temperate bushes and
semiarid grassland, but have fewer forests. Dominant plants
there include Chinese silver grass, xeric wormwood, caragana
microphylla and sea-buckthorn. Relatively speaking, Shanxi
lacks forest resources, being .one of China¡¯s
most deficient provinces.
However, it abounds in wild plants. Of the more than 1,000
species so far discovered, there are over 90 species of
wild medicinal plants widely distributed in hilly areas.
Famous ones include Codonopsis pilosola, Astragalus membranaceus,
liquorice and weeping golden bell. Major wild fiber plants
include nilghiri nettle, splendid achnatherum, Chinese
small iris, kudzu vines, chaste trees and Chinese alpine
rush.
Fauna resources:
There are more than 400 species of terrestrial wild animals
in Shanxi, including some 70 species of rare animals under
state protection. The 14 species under first-class protection
include white stork, black stork, golden eagle, sea eagle,
vulture, brown pheasant, red-crowned crane, great bustard,
leopard, tiger and sika deer. The 56 species under second-class
protection comprise 40 kinds of birds, two kinds amphibians
and 14 kinds of beasts. In addition, there are more than
20 species of fur-bearing animals, including otter, Marten
foina, raccoon-dog, leopard cat, yellow weasel, badger
and fox. Table animals include hare, wild boar, ring-necked
pheasant, rock partridge and partridge. There are also
more than 70 species of medicinal-supplying animals.
Water resources:
Water resources total 15.24 billion cubic meters.
 The
province is deficient in surface water, but the available
resources are evenly distributed. There are eight rivers,
each with a length of over 150 km. The total volume of
river water runoff stands at 11.4 billion cubic meters,
a figure, slightly more than that in Ningxia Hui Autonomous
Region, ranking last but one nationally.
Generally originating from eastern and western mountainous
areas, all rivers in Shanxi are outflow ones, belonging
to either the Yellow or Haihe river systems. Generally
speaking, rivers running west and south belong to the
Yellow River system, while those flowing east belong to
the Haihe River system. The Yellow River drainage area
totals 97,503 square km, accounting for 62.2 percent of
Shanxi¡¯s total land area. The Haihe River
drainage area covers 59,320 square km, constituting 37.8
percent of the total land area. Shanxi has 1,214.6 billion
cubic meters of underground water resources, but only
45 percent of them are recoverable. They are mainly distributed
on the fringe of basins and in provincial border areas.
Tourism resources:
Shanxi abounds in tourism resources. Famous spots
include the Yunguang Caves at Datong City in the north,
Wutai Mountain, a sacred place of Buddhism in the central
part, and the falls at Hukou in the south, the only waterfall
on the Yellow River.
The province also encompasses the country¡¯s
largest temple of martial valor -- the Guan Yu Shrine
at Xiezhou -- and one of the four large whispering buildings
in China, the Yingying Pagoda of Pujiu Temple in Yongji
County.
Statistics show that Shanxi now preserves a total of 31,401
unmovable cultural relics of different kinds. They comprise
2,639 ruins of ancient monuments, 1,666 ancient graves,
18,118 old buildings and memorial structures of historic
interest, 300 grottoes and temples, 360 sites bearing
ancient vertebrate fossils, 6,852 sites with stone inscriptions
and 1,466 old revolutionary sites and memorial buildings.
There are 12,345 painted sculptures in these old buildings
and memorial structures of historic interest and 26,751
square meters of murals in old temples. Therefore, the
province has broad prospects for developing tourism based
on its rich cultural relics to make it a pillar sector
of the economy.
Energy resources:
Shanxi has abundant electric power resources, possessing
the largest number of power plants each with an installed
capacity of over 1 million kw. The combined installed
generating capacity of the province now totals 8.475 million
kw, with annual power production reaching 41.78 billion
kwh. Over the past 15 years, the province has built six
500-kv UHV transmission lines, with a transformer capacity
of 1 million KVA, and 69 229-kv transmission lines, with
a transformer capacity of 6.036 million KVA. Shanxi plays
a key role in the North China Power Grid. At present,
nearly 2,000 townships and towns in the province have
access to electricity and during power consumption time,
more than 95 percent of rural households can be guaranteed
access, both figures being higher than the national average.
Shanxi is also a major electricity exporter; providing,
for example, a quarter of the power consumed in Beijing.
Transportation
Railway:
The railway network comprises nine trunk railways, including
the Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan, Beijing-Yuanping and Beijing-Baotou
railways, 13 main feeder lines and more than 400 access
lines. It connects with national railway traffic arteries,
the Beijing-Baotou, Beijing-Guangzhou and Lianyungang-Lanzhou
railways, thus linking Shanxi with all major cities across
the country and Tianjin, Qinhuangdao and Shijiusuo ports.
Highway:
Connecting with the Beijing-Shijiazhuang Expressway, the
newly built Taiyuan-Jiuguan Expressway has converged into
the Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu and Beijing-Shenzhen expressway
network. The Yuanping-Taiyuan Expressway, opened to traffic
in 1998, is a section of the projected Datong-Yuncheng
Expressway, which will run through the province from north
to south. Shanxi has built a complete highway network
based on national highways and supplemented by country
roads, which connects major industrial enterprises, mines
and cash crop production bases with railways and links
Shanxi with neighboring provinces. The province has established
a sound transportation management system, with transportation
undertakings dominated by the state sector and collective
and individual firms encouraged to participate in competition.
Airway:
The Taiyuan Airport has opened 41 air routes linking Shanxi
with 30 major cities around the mainland as well as with
Hong Kong.
Telecommunications
Telephone:
Telecommunications have developed rapidly. Currently,
a program-controlled telephone switching system is available
in the province¡¯s 10 cities directly under
the provincial government, one prefecture and some towns
and townships. On September 20, 1994, automatic cellular
roaming service was made available in 32 counties and
cities across the province.
Radio and TV stations:
The Shanxi People¡¯s Broadcasting Station now
broadcasts six sets of daily programs. By the mid-1990s,
all counties had set up their own TV stations. There are
159 provincial cable TV stations, as well as 335 cable
TV stations run by towns or townships. The number of cable
TV subscribers now approaches 700,000. |
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