Shanxi
Shanxi (山西 in pinyin: Shānxī, in Wade-Giles: Shan-hsi, pronounced like "Shon-shee") is a northern province of the People's Republic of China. It's one-character abbreviation is Jin (晋 pinyin jìn), after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period. Shanxi has an area of 150,000 km² and a population of 32.97 million.
Shanxi's name literally means "mountains' west", which refers to the province's location west of the Taihang mountains. Shanxi borders Hebei to the east, Henan to the south, Shaanxi to the west, and Inner Mongolia to the north. The capital of Shanxi is Taiyuan.
| Province Abbreviation(s): 晋 (JÃÂìn) | |
| Capital | Taiyuan |
| Area - Total - % water | Ranked 20th 150,000 km² xx% |
| Population
- Total (2000) - Density | Ranked 19th
32,970,000 220/km² |
| Administration Type | Province |
 | |
| Table of contents |
|
2 Subdivisions 3 Geography 4 Economy 5 Demographics 6 Culture 7 Tourism 8 Miscellaneous topics 9 External links |
Shanxi was the location of the powerful Jin state during the Spring and Autumn Period. The Han Dynasty ruled Shanxi as the prefecture of Bing-zhou (并州 BÃÂìng Zhōu). During the barbarian invasions of the Sixteen Kingdoms period, Shanxi was hotly disputed, and present-day Datong served for a time as the capital of the Northern Wei, a Xianbei kingdom that went on to rule all of north China. During the Tang and Tang the area was known as He-dong, or "east of the (Yellow) river". It was the Ming Dynasty that formally established the area as Shanxi province.
Shanxi contains eleven prefecture-level cities:
(Note: "Prefecture-level cities" are large administrative divisions that cover both urban and rural areas, and do not actually refer to "cities" in the strictest sense of the word.
See Political divisions of China)
Shanxi is located on a plateau, which is in turn made up of higher ground to the east (Taihang mountains) and the west (Luliang mounntains), and a series of valleys in the center through which the Fen River flows. The highest peak is Wutai Shan at an altitude of 3058 m. The Fen and Qin Rivers, tributaries of Huang He (or Yellow River), drain much of the province; the north is drained by tributaries of the Hai River, such as Sanggan and Hutuo.
Shanxi has a continental monsoon climate, and is rather arid. Annual precipitation averages around 350-700 mm. There is very little precipitation in winter and spring.
Major cities:
Shanxi depends mostly on agriculture, mainly the cultivation of wheat, but also corn and sorghum.
Shanxi is very rich in natural resources, including coal and bauxite. Shanxi has, in fact, one third of China's coal, and this has made Shanxi a leading producer of coal within China.
Industry in Shanxi is mostly centered around coal, power generation, metalrefining, and other heavy industries.
In 2001, Shanxi had a gross domestic product of 178 billion RMB, and a per capita income of 5460 RMB. By market exchange rates, these convert to US$21.5 billion and US$660 respectively. Conversion by purchasing power probably makes it a lot higher --- anyone has figures?
The population is mostly Han Chinese with minorities of Hui Chinese, Mongols, and Manchus.
People in most regions of Shanxi speak dialects of Jin-yu, a subdivision of Chinese. People in the southwest speak dialects of Mandarin.
(Jin-yu is sometimes classified as a subdivision of Mandarin. For more information, see Chinese spoken language.)
Vinegar is a very important part of Shanxi cuisine.
Jin-ju (晋剧 jÃÂìnjÃÂù), or Shanxi opera, is a popular form of traditional entertainment.
Dazhai (大寨 dÃÂÃÂ zhÃÂÃÂ i) -- a holy site during the Cultural Revolution
History
Subdivisions
These prefectures, in turn, oversee 11 county-level cities, 85 counties, and 23 districts.Geography
Economy
Demographics
Culture
Tourism
Wutai Shan (Mount Wutai)
Heng Shan (Mount Heng)Miscellaneous topics
External links
Province-level Divisions of Mainland China
Provinces:
Anhui | Fujian | Gansu | Guangdong | Guizhou | Hainan | Hebei | Heilongjiang | Henan | Hubei | Hunan | Jiangsu | Jiangxi | Jilin | Liaoning | Qinghai | Shaanxi | Shandong | Shanxi | Sichuan | Yunnan | Zhejiang
Autonomous Regions:
Guangxi | Inner Mongolia | Ningxia | Tibet | Xinjiang
Municipalities:
Beijing | Chongqing | Shanghai | Tianjin