Taiyuan

Taiyuan, city (1994 est. pop. 1,642,300), capital of Shanxi prov., N China, on the Fen River, in one of the world's richest coal and iron areas. It is a mining and smelting center with a large iron and steel complex and plants making heavy machinery, chemicals, plastics, fertilizer, cement, paper products, and processed foods. Taiyuan is connected by rail with Beijing. An ancient walled city, it fell to the Communists in 1949 after a siege in which thousands starved. Shanxi Medical College is in the city. Taiyuan was formerly called Yanggu.

or T'ai-yüan

City (pop., 2003 est.: 1,970,300), capital of Shanxi province, China, lying on the Fen River. Known since the time of the Zhou dynasty, it was a strategic centre and administrative capital in the time of the Mongols (12th–14th century). In 1900 it was the scene of a massacre of foreign missionaries during the Boxer Rebellion and was one of the first areas to oppose the emperor in 1911. Invaded by the Japanese in 1937, it was again besieged by communist forces in 1948–49. One of the most important industrial cities in China, it produces cement, iron and steel, and coal. It also is an education and research centre. There are notable cave temples from the Tang and Yuan eras in the area.

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