Jinci Temple is at the foot of Xuanwen Mountain, which is 25km from Taiyuan. It is the most famous of all the historical relics in Taiyuan. The temple was built to commemorate the first King of the Jin Kingdom. This ancient architectural complex is a state-protected historic relic. The temple is divided into the center, north and south. The most famous building is Shengmudian (Hall of the Goddess). The cypress from the Zhou Dynasty, the everlasting spring, and the clay sculpture of the maidservant in the Hall of the Goddess are know as the three best in the temple. Other scenic spots worth seeing include the stone tablet of the Tang Dynasty, the iron-cast warrior statue, the ancestral temple of Wang and the modern art gallery.

Pingyao is 90 km south of Taiyuan. The city wall was first built in the Western Zhou Dynasty (c.1100BC-c.771BC) and was extended and repaired in the ming and Qing Dynasties. The extant city wall, streets and houses are of the Ming dynasty style. lt is the best-preserved ancient walled city in China and is the only ancient walled city of the Han nationality in China. lt is listed as a World Cultural Heritage site.

The Yungang Grottoes, which contain China's largest and earliest stone sculptures, areat the foot of Mount Wuzhou, some 15 km west of Datong. The grottoes are one of the three major grotto groups in China with the Mogao Grottoes at Dunhuang in Gansu and the Longmen Grottoes at Luoyang in Henan. They are one of China's great historical wonders. The yungang Grottoes were started during the period of the Northern Wei Dynasty in around 453.