Taiyuan, China

Taiyuan 太原市
Prefecture-level city
Longtan Park, The east pagoda in Twin Pagoda Temple, Jinci Temple.
Nickname(s): Bīngzhōu (并州); Jìnyáng (晋阳); Dragon City (龙城)
Taiyuan (red) in Shanxi (orange)
Taiyuan Location of the city center in Shanxi
Coordinates: 37°52′10″N 112°33′37″E / 37.86944°N 112.56028°E / 37.86944; 112.56028Coordinates: 37°52′10″N 112°33′37″E / 37.86944°N 112.56028°E / 37.86944; 112.56028
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Shanxi
Divisions	County-level divisions: 10, Township-level divisions: 83
Government
• Party Secretary	Wu Zhenglong
• Mayor	Geng Yanbo
Area
• Prefecture-level city	6,959 km2 (2,687 sq mi)
• Urban	1,460 km2 (560 sq mi)
Elevation	800 m (2,600 ft)
Highest elevation	2,670 m (8,760 ft)
Lowest elevation	760 m (2,490 ft)
Population (2010 census)
• Prefecture-level city	4,201,591
• Density	600/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
• Urban	3,212,500
• Urban density	2,200/km2 (5,700/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	030000
Area code(s)	351
ISO 3166 code	CN-14-01
Vehicle registration	晋A
GDP	¥ 241.29 billion (2013)
GDP per capita	¥ 50,802 (2010)
Major Nationalities	Han
Administrative division code	140100
Website	taiyuan.gov.cn

Tàiyuán
"Tàiyuán" in Chinese
Chinese
Literal meaning	"Great Plain"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Tàiyuán Bopomofo ㄊㄞˋ   ㄩㄢˊ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Tayyuan Wade–Giles Tʻai4-yüan2 IPA [tʰâi.ɥɛ̌n] Wu Romanization tha去nyoe平 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Taai-yùhn Jyutping Taai3-jyun4 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Thài-goân

Taiyuan (Chinese: 太原; pinyin: Tàiyuán [tʰâi.ɥɛ̌n], also known as Bīng (并), Jìnyáng (晋阳)) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi province in North China. It is one of the main manufacturing bases of China. Throughout its long history, Taiyuan was the capital or provisional capital of many dynasties in China, hence the name Lóngchéng (龙城, "Dragon City").

The two Chinese characters of the city's name are (tài, "great") and (yuán, "plain"), referring to the location where the Fen River leaves the mountains and enters a relatively flat plain. Throughout its long history, the city had various names, including Bīngzhōu (并州) (from which the city's abbreviated single-character name Bīng (并) is derived), Jìnyáng (晋阳) and Lóngchéng (龙城).

During the Tang dynasty (唐朝) and subsequent Five Dynasties (五代), the status of the city of Taiyuan was elevated to be the Northern Capital, hence the name Běidū (北都), and Běijīng (北京, different from present-day Beijing).

Taiyuan is an ancient city with more than 2500 years of urban history, dating back from 497 BC. It was the capital or secondary capital (, ) of Zhao, Former Qin, Eastern Wei, Northern Qi, , Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, Northern Han. Its strategic location and rich history make Taiyuan one of the economic, political, military, and cultural centers of Northern China.