Things to do in Jiexiu

No. 16 of Fall Viewing Attractions in Shanxi

Mianshan Scenic Spot 

Mianshan Scenic Area is located 20 kilometers southeast of Jiexiu City. Surrounding the area are magnificent cliffs, cypress and pine trees, making for a beautiful landscape. Mianshan also has numerous ancient trees and fascinating stone formations, as well as all kinds of caves and waterfalls. There are more than one hundred caves, cliffs and stone formations both large and small. These include Baofu Rock, Fengfang Spring and Ligu Cliff. The hole in Baofu Rock is enormous. More than ten thousand visitors could fit inside at the same time without any of them feeling crowded. There are also many ancient temples scattered about the mountain. Tiewa Temple began construction during the Eastern Han Dynasty and Baofu Temple was founded during the Cao-Wei Dynasty of the Three Kingdoms Period.

No. 13 of Best Things to Do in Shanxi

WANG JIA DA YUAN

The Wang Family Courtyard is 35 kilometers away from the ancient city of Pingyao. Built by the Jingsheng Wang family during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, its construction took over 300 years to complete. Among Shanxi's courtyards, Its scale and grandeur are absolutely second to none. People who have been to the Wang Family Courtyard would exclaim that it is virtually a city! It is precisely because of its majestic grandeur, as well as its architectural and cultural achievements, it has always had the reputation "the Wang family does not return to see courtyards".

No. 13 of Family-friendly Attractions in Shanxi

Zhang Bi Ancient Fortress

Zhangbi Ancient Castle, AAAA-grade scenic spot, is located in Zhangbi Village, Longfeng Township, southeast of Jiexiu City.The entire castle was built in a favorable area, which is an ancient compact "castle" that is well-preserved in China.There are three deep ditchs extending from the left, center and right of Zhangbi Castle.

Jiexiu Houtu Temple

Jiexiu Houtu Temple is a Taoist temple located in the northwest corner of Jiexiu County. It is one of the key cultural relics protection units in Shanxi Province. Jiexiu Houtu Temple is a huge building complex with five courtyards and pavilions. In this building complex, there are shadow walls, mountain gates, crossing halls, east and west corridor rooms, Sanqing Building, Bell and Drum Tower, and the rear hall. The main building in the Houtu Temple is a building with a triple eaves cross Xieshan and a roof structure. On the top of the building, the dragon's kiss is towering; the lion decoration, the glazed pavilion, the lotus ridge tube, and the beast's head and horns reflect each other, forming a vivid and spectacular picture of glazed products. In the Houtu Temple, there are nearly a thousand painted sculptures on the hanging wall reflecting the content of Taoism. These statues, with extremely high shaping techniques, have reached a considerable artistic realm. These painted sculptures have vivid images, different postures, smooth clothing lines, plump images and natural expressions. They are rare masterpieces of painted sculpture art. According to the records of the golden statues in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, these painted sculptures may be the works of the early Ming Dynasty.

Taihe Rock Memorial Archway

Taihe Rock Memorial Archway is located in Beixinwu Village, 20 km northeast of Jiexiu City. The archway faces south and is a four-pillar, three-gate, three-story structure built on a stone-masonry waist-constricted Sumeru pedestal. This structure is magnificent, ornate, solemn, and elegant, fully embodying the extraordinary wisdom and talent of the ancients.

Xianshen Tower

Located in Jiexiu City, Zoroastrian God Tower, also known as Xuanshen Tower and Yaoshen Tower, is a pavilion-style building that combines a gatehouse, a music tower and a street crossing tower. Zoroastrian God Tower was originally part of the Zoroastrian Temple, which was destroyed in the 11th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1532). It was converted into the Sanjieyi Temple during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, and was rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty. The Zoroastrian God Tower was built in the 50th year of Qianlong (1786).The front of the Zoroastrian building is in the shape of a "convex" character, with a total depth of 20 meters. The street-passing building protruding from the corridor is three bays wide and three bays deep. The wider part, the music building inside the temple, is five bays wide and four bays deep. There are corridors around it, and the space is spacious. The flat platform at the waist of the mountain gate is connected to the flat platform of the street-passing building, and the floor is laid on it, forming a music building for offering sacrifices to the gods in the temple.The temple's interior and exterior are both two-story, and together with the terrace and the double eaves on the upper floor, it is four stories high. The four pillars in the building directly support the upper beams, and the mountain gate and theater are stacked up and down. The roof is a cross-shaped hip roof, all covered with glazed ridge tiles. This high-rise ancient building has a harmonious proportion of depth and width, which gives it a very majestic and stable appearance.The Zoroastrianism Tower is a Zoroastrianism building. Its main doctrine is to worship the sun. It is also called "Zoroastrianism" and was born in ancient Persia. The Mingjiao in Jin Yong's novel "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" is the Chinese Zoroastrianism. In the Zoroastrianism Tower, you can see many decorative patterns that are not common in other temples, such as tigers, sheepdogs, sacred cows, elephants, etc. These are all sacred animals of Zoroastrianism. It is known as the "Four Famous Towers of Shanxi" together with the Guanque Tower in Puzhou, the Feiyun Tower in Wanrong, and the Qiufeng Tower. It is also the only Zoroastrianism building preserved in China and even in the world.

Selected for Best Things to Do in Shanxi

Shuanglin Temple

Shuanglin Temple is an old temple listed on the World Heritage List along with Pingyao Ancient City Wall and Zhenguo Temple. The sculptures made completely of wood-tire clay in the temple are valuable, integrating the essence of Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties colorful lay sculptures. The Avalokitesvara of the Bodhisattva Temple is of high quality. She sat in front of the green background, and she was graceful and elegant, with a gentle and calm appearance. Each arm is rounded and plump, and the ratio to the body is just perfect. There is no feel of stiff, reaching the harmonious and perfect realm of sculptural art.

2026 Asia 100 - Night Attractions

Pingyao Ancient City

Pingyao Ancient City is one of the best-preserved ancient cities in China and, along with Lijiang Ancient City, is one of the two ancient cities in China to have successfully been designated as a World Cultural Heritage site in its entirety. Pingyao was once the financial center of China during the late Qing dynasty. Walking into this once-prosperous ancient city, you can feel the atmosphere of Shanxi merchant culture everywhere. The streets, shops, and residences within the ancient city still maintain their traditional layout and appearance. The overall street pattern is in the shape of the Chinese character 'tu', consisting of four main streets, eight small streets, and seventy-two lanes. The ancient city has six city gates in total, and the areas around the south gate and west gate are where visitors are concentrated. When touring, you usually enter the city through the lower west gate and walk along West Street to Rishengchang Exchange Shop, where you can learn about the development history of ancient banking and experience the legend of Shanxi merchants conducting business across the world. South Street, which runs north-south through the city, is the central axis of the ancient city. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, South Street gathered more than half of the country's financial institutions and was known as the "Wall Street of China" at the time. Today this street is called the Ming and Qing Ancient Street, and most of the ancient city's attractions are concentrated here. Centered on the landmark Market Tower, attractions such as Xietongqing Exchange Shop, Weitaihou Exchange Shop Museum, and the Chinese Escort Agency Museum are distributed around it, and a large number of shop buildings from the Ming and Qing periods are preserved along the street. At the Pingyao County Government Office in the south of the ancient city, you can see a large number of ancient documents and instruments of torture, and there is a daily performance of the county magistrate holding court; the City God Temple and the Confucian Temple in the east of the city have grand and refined architecture. The ancient city wall is very well preserved, and climbing the wall offers a panoramic view of the ancient city. The gate tower of Yingxun Gate at the south gate is especially exquisite, and watching the sunset from the city wall in the evening is a magnificent sight. In addition to the ancient city itself, the Zhenguo Temple and Shuanglin Temple outside the city are also part of the World Cultural Heritage. The Ten Thousand Buddha Hall of Zhenguo Temple is entirely made of wood, assembled with mortise and tenon joints without a single nail; Shuanglin Temple preserves painted sculptures from the Yuan to Ming dynasties, which are exquisite in form and renowned as a "treasure house of Eastern painted sculpture art."

Daluo Palace

Yunfeng Temple

Yunfeng Temple, also known as Baofuyan, is located in the heart of Mianshan Mountain. Originally called Baofu Temple, it was built by imperial decree during the Zhenguan reign of the Tang Dynasty (627-649) and rebuilt in the 11th year of the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty (1516). It underwent numerous renovations during the Qing Dynasty. Extant ancient buildings include the Kongwang Hall, the Thousand Buddha Hall, the Jietui Shrine, the Five Dragons Hall, the Mingwang Hall, the Maming Hall, the Arhat Hall, the Eyesight Bodhisattva Hall, and nearly 100 other rooms, including monks' quarters and guesthouses. The temple houses over 70 exquisitely painted sculptures from various dynasties, including three bone-encased statues of the human body.