Shanxi, literally means "West of the Mountains" which refers to the Taihang Mountains. During the Spring and Autumn Period (700-467BC), the province was the territory of the Jin State, so it is also known as the Jin.
Shanxi's long history has provided the province with rich and colorful cultural heritages, which owing to its stability and prosperity has been well preserved, thus, earning the name of "Museum of Ancient Chinese Culture". The more obvious of these include: the Buddhist wonder of the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, the ancient city of Pingyao which was listed as a World Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO in 1997, the oldest and tallest ancient wooden pagoda in China - the Wooden Pagoda of Yingxian County, the remote Shuanglin Temple, Jinci Temple, the longest and most prestigious history in the four most well-known Buddhist holy lands of China – Mt. Wutai, and one of the Five Sacred Mountains in China – Mt. Hengshan, which are well worth the long journeys for the visitors.
Shanxi is also known for Jin Merchants Culture of central Shanxi. Jin merchants constituted a historical phenomenon that last for centuries from Song Dynasty to Qing Dynasty. Jin merchants ranged far and way from Central Asia to the coast of eastern China, by the Qing Dynasty they were conducting trade across both sides of the Great Wall. During late Qing Dynasty, a new development occurred: the creation of Piaohao, which were essentially small banks that provided services like money transfers and transactions, deposits, loans, and etc. After the establishment of the first Piaohao in Pingyao, the bankers of Shanxi enjoyed nearly one hundred years of financial dominance across China before being eclipsed by the rise of modern, larger banks...