SHANXI
PROVINCE

Taiyuan
Taiyuan is the capital of Shanxi Province, a city with a long history which is now an important industrial centre of more than one million people. In the vicinity of Taiyuan are a number of andent Buddhist temples, including the XUANZHONG MONASTERY, birthplace of one of the largest Buddhist sects in Japan. In modern history, Taiyuan is most interesting for having been the headquarters of Yan Xishan, a warlord who supported the republicans in the revolt against the imperial Manchu dynasty in 1911, and then promptly made the province his own personal empire, ruling it until the Communists swept through in 1949 on their way to complete victory on the Chinese mainland. His former residence on Victory Street (Shengli Jie) is now used by his successors, the Shanxi Provincial Communist Party Committee, and the Provincial People's Government.



The PROVINCIAL MUSEUM is housed in a huge Taoist temple in the centre of town, and has a superb collection of antiquities on display, including a statue of the founder and patron saint of the Taoist religion himself, Laozi. During my visit, I asked the guide if the temple would be opened again for Taoist worship in the same way as many of the Buddhist temples around China have been. She seemed stunned for a second before replying: 'But there aren't any Taoists left.'

Also on show is a large block of stone intricately carved with dozens of tiny Buddhas, dating back 1600 years. Having made it safely through 16 centuries, the heads of each and every Buddha were knocked off during the Cultural Revolution by some Red Guard who deserves a similar fate. Another interesting site in the city is the ZHONGSHAN TEMPLE. The main hall was built during the Ming dynasty and houses a huge collection of Buddhist scriptures, including some items dating back to the Yuan and Song dynasties, which are on view.

In late 1980, there was some serious labour trouble at the Taiyuan Iron and Steel Works, apparently including calls by some workers for the establishment of a trade union independent of the Communist Party. The local paper gave only sparse details, but indicated that whatever had happened had been crushed pretty quickly. The incident, perhaps inspired by the rise of the Solidarity Union in Poland a few months before, included demands by some workers 'that they be allowed to solve their own destinies', the local Taiyuan Daily said. Leaders of the workers' protest used slogans such as 'down with bureaucracy, down with privilege, down with dictatorship'. It was never revealed how many workers were involved in the protest or what happened to the ring4eaders. Needless to say, foreign tourists get no hint of whatever labour problems may still be bubbling away in the factories of Taiyuan. The most interesting excursion from Taiyuan is to the JINCI TEMPLE, about 15 miles (24 kilometres) to the southwest. Taiyuan was the capital of the Jin state about 1500 years ago, and the temple was first built to commemorate the founder of that little kingdom. Many of the buildings in the complex were built 900 years ago during the Song dynasty. The largest is the SHENMUDIAN (Hall of the Holy Mother), along the walls of which are some interesting statues of officials, maids and eunuchs waiting on the Holy Mother in F the centre. One of the cypress trees nearby is said to be over 3000 years old. (Local tourist buses leave regularly from the square to the east of -Yingze Lu where the main hotels are. The No.8 bus from the railway station also passes by Jinci Temple. Get someone to tell you where to alight.)

How to get there and where to stay
Taiyuan is a 13-hour train ride from Peking. The city is on the main line to Xi'an, and could be treated as a one-day stopover on a trip from one to the other. There are also regular flights to Peking and Xi an

The two main hotels are the Yingze Binguan (17 Yingze Street) and the Bingzhou Fandian almost next door (2 Yingze Street). The Yingze is the one usually used by foreigners.

Datong
The main reason for Datong's existence these days is the huge coal reserves lying just under the surface of the surrounding countryside. It is not a beautiful city by any stretch of the imagination, but for railway buffs at least, it is worth visiting. The DATONG LOCOMOTIVE JATORY is the only place in the world still commercially producing steam engines. The factory was opened in 1959 and produces 22 or 23 engines a month, to a design based on a Soviet model from the 1950s. After viewing the factory, visitors are given what train freaks presumably consider to be the ultimate experience - you get to have a ride in the engine driver's cabin.

If you go to Datong specifically to see the steam engine factory, make sure you go on the right day - the factory only receives visitors on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

There are few interesting buildings in Datong city itself, but like anywhere in China, it is well worth just taking a walk round the back streets. Old Datong is laid out according to the traditional pattern of Chinese towns, with a picturesque DRUM TOWER in the centre of the F rectangular network of roads. There are two old Buddhist monasteries, the upper and lower HUAYAN MONASTHRIES which are now used as museums. A former temple dedicated to the sage Confucius in the southeast quarter of the old city is now used as a middle (secondary) school. Another site shown to visitors is the 'NINE DRAGON SCREEN', a huge wall decorated with multi coloured tiles which was built in the Ming dynasty as part of a nobleman's residence, long since destroyed. It is the finest example left in China of a form of decoration popular with the imperial Chinese aristocracy. The best local restaurant in Datong is the Fenglinge, in an alley way just to the west of the Dragon Screen. It's best to book in advance The restaurant in the Datorig Guesthouse is terrible: the attendants are surly, the table-cloths filthy, and the food drab and often cold. The jiao-zis (meat dumplings) are not bad, however.

Ten miles (16 kilometres) or so to the west of Datong are the VUNGANG CAVES, considered by some to be the finest Buddhist rock carvings in China. The shrine consists of hundreds of Buddhas gazing out of niches dug into a long sandstone cliff. Most of the Buddhas were carved in the late fifth century and the largest and most F impressive one at the westem end of the cliff is 55 feet (17 metres) tall. The shrine bears the scars of vandalism, both human and natural; there are some empty niches from which Chinese iconoclasts (including Red Guards) or European treasure hunters have removed statues. Wind erosion has also taken its toll over the centuries, and from the look of the smooth, swirling grooves along the base of some of the statues, flood waters must have also engulfed the shrine on at least one occasion. Halfway along this row of archaeological marvels is a temple built in the seventeenth century which climbs almost vertically up the cliff face. The temple buildings have been left pretty much alone and look delightful in their shades of fading red and blue Unfortunately, it is probably only a matter of time before the local antiquities preservation committee decides to 'restore' the temple and paint it up in the gaudy colours that in the past few years have made so many antique buildings around China look slightly ridiculous, like old ladies with too much make-up. (To get to the caves, take a No.1 bus from close by the hotel to its terminus at the West Gate bus station. Then takea No.3 bus to the caves. The journey takes about 45 minutes.)

How to get there and where to stay
Datong is about eight hours by train west of Peking, and is best treated as a one-day stop on the way to or from somewhere else, most likely Inner Mongolia. The only hotel in town which takes foreigners is the Datong Guesthouse, a grim 1950S structure which is one of the worst tourist hotels in the country. A standard room with bath costs an exorbitant 32 yuan a day. For the budget traveller, the hotel has dormitory rooms on each floor with bed-spaces for six yuan a day.

Dazhai (Tachai)

All over China, on walls and buildings, are the fading remains of millions of slogans reading: 'In Agriculture, Leam from Dazhai.' This tiny village of about 80 families in eastem Shanxi province, was selected by Chairman Mao in 1964 as being a good example of self sufficiency and revolutionary spirit, and a propaganda campaign was cranked up to elevate it into a national model. Tourists, both local and foreign, were taken in droves to view this wonder, where the happy, simple peasants, using only Mao Tse-tung Thought as their guide, had managed to build huge irrigation channels and aqueducts, and raised grain production every year. At least that was the Gospel According to Chen Yonggui, the peasant leader of the Dazhai Produc-tion Brigade, who rose to national political prominence on the back of the 'Learn from Dazhai' campaign. He became both a vice-premier and a member of the Communist Party Politburo, and always appeared at meetings in Peking with a peasant towel wrapped theatrically around his head as if he'd just walked in from the fields.

In fact, the whole Dazhai 'miracle' was a fake. The irrigation works, supposedly built by the Dazhai peasants themselves, were actually financed by the central government and built largely by army units. Grain production, far from rising steadily, fell every single year from 1973 to 1977. Nevertheless, Mao's successor, Hua Guofeng, person-ally took control of the Dazhai campaign and built it up to even crazier heights, insisting that every part of the country should apply the lessons of Dazhai whether they were relevant or not. The aim of every village and county was to be named 'Dazhai-style'. According to press reports in 1980 and 1981, Chen Yonggui, the simple peasant with the towel round his head, was in fact corrupt, autocratic, given to personal vendettas against anyone who even slightly crossed him, and a liar when it came to production figures. His son, Chen Mingzhu, was denounced at the same time for being promiscuous and for allegedly raping at least one girl.

Of course, neither father nor son are now in a position to give their side of the story.

In the late 1970s, the 'Learn from Dazhai' campaign was dropped. Chen was removed from his post as head of the Dazhai brigade in late 1979, and from his post of vice-premier in September 1980. He remained a member of the Politburo, at least nominally, up until the Twelfth Party Congress in mid-1982, although he had certainly ceased to play any role in politics at least two years before that.

One perplexing aspect of the Chen Yonggui affair is that, in all of the dozens of articles published in 1980 and 1981 criticising him, he was never once mentioned by name. The articles only ever referred to 'the former responsible person in Dazhai' or some similar construction, and he has never been publicly criticised by name in the official press. The only explanation can be that he had some influential friends.

Not surprisingly, the official media carried stories in 1981 saying how excellent the situation in Dazhai was, following the departure of 'the former responsible person', and how the peasants were beginning to recover from the years when 'ultra-leftism' ran amok in their little village.

How to get there and where to stay
Dazhai used to be on the regular tourist route for foreigners in China, but for obvious reasons, it is no longer featured. However, some visitors have received permission to go there and, compared to similar villages around China, Dazhai is well equipped to handle them. To get there, take a train to Yangquan, a stop on the railway line between Taiyuan and Shijiazhuang to the east. Dazhai is about 40 miles (64 kilometres) south of Yangquan by road. Visitors stay in the Dazhai Guesthouse. One of the guesthouse rooms used to be reserved for Chen Yonggui, and his son is alleged to have used it when he wished to have his way with young ladies.