Overview
The province of Shanxi, situated on the Loess Plateau in the middle reaches of the Yellow River in northern China, borders Hebei Province in the east and Shaanxi Province in the west and is connected to Henan Province in the south and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the north. Under the jurisdiction of the Jin State during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.), the province is also called Jin for short.
Shanxi is a place that boasts the most splendid Buddhist traditions in China. THe province’s Wutai Mountain is known as one of the Four Most Famous Buddhist Mountains in China. Shanxi is also the birthplace of banking in China, evidenced by many famous residential compounds of Shanxi merchant families (influding Wang’s, Qiao’s, Qu’s, Cao’s, and Chang’s) and the Rishengchang Bank. As the ancestral home of the Chinese nation, Shanxi is where many Chinese surnames originated, and their descendants have spread around the country and even the world. It is also home to countless celebrities. Almost every nounty in Shanxi has its own folk music and dances. THerefore, Shanxi has been reputed as the Museum of Ancient Chinese Architecture, the Home of Banking in China, the Birthplace of Traditional Chinese Operas, the Ocean of Folk Songs, and the Home of Folk Dances.
