Things to do in Houma

No. 8 of Fall Viewing Attractions in Yuncheng

Longxing Temple

Longxingsi was first built in the Tang dynasty, with its current main structures reconstructed after the Yuan dynasty. The main hall of Longxingsi is a relic from the Yuan dynasty, housing nine exquisite painted sculptures of the three Buddhas and attendant Bodhisattvas from the Jin dynasty, considered masterpieces of Song and Jin dynasty painted sculptures and extremely rare. The Biluo stele, erected during Emperor Gaozong's reign in the Tang dynasty and preserved in Longxingsi, features inscriptions in ancient script and is hailed as a witness to the evolution of Chinese characters. The Longxingsi pagoda, originally a Tang dynasty structure, was encased in an outer layer during the Qianlong era of the Qing dynasty and expanded from eight to thirteen stories, remaining climbable.

Jiangzhou Prefecture Scenic Area

Xinjiang County's Jiangzhou Government Office attraction consists of Jiangzhou's Three Towers (Bell Tower, Drum Tower, Music Tower), City God Temple, Sui Dynasty Garden-Jiangzhou Grand Hall, and Jiangshouju Garden Pool, showcasing the essence of ancient Jiangzhou city architecture and its profound cultural heritage. The three towers of Jiangzhou stand together in a rare tripod formation seldom seen in China. The Sui Dynasty Garden-Jiangzhou Grand Hall, originally built during the Tang Dynasty with its current Yuan Dynasty style, is renowned for its exceptional width and long span. Jiangshouju Garden Pool, also known as Sui Dynasty Garden, was constructed in the 16th year of the Sui Kaihuang era (596 AD) and remains the only preserved Sui Dynasty official garden in China. This attraction not only bears witness to the thousand-year historical development of Jiangzhou City but also serves as a cultural tourism destination integrating heritage revitalization, cultural experience, and historical education.

Houma Jinguo Gudu Museum

The Houma Jinguo Gudu Museum is located within Jinbo Garden on Fuxi Road, Houma City. The museum covers an area of 2 hectares and has a building area of 3,200 square meters. It is divided into two main sections with four exhibition halls, displaying 455 cultural relics, and is a specialized museum dedicated to showcasing the Jin State Xintian culture. With the promotion of Jin culture as its main theme, the Houma Jinguo Gudu Museum has achieved significant social benefits. Since its opening, it has received over 40,000 domestic and international visitors annually, and visitors have highly praised the museum for its rich Jin cultural content. It has been designated as a Patriotic Education Base by the Publicity Department of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee, the Houma Municipal Party Committee, and the Municipal Government.

No. 12 of Best Things to Do in Yuncheng

Fusheng Temple

Fusheng TempleLocated 17 km northwest of Xinjiang County in Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, it was founded during the Tang Dynasty's Zhenguan era (627–649 AD) and underwent major renovations in the 11th year of the Ming Dynasty's Hongzhi reign (1498).Fusheng Temple.Fusheng TempleFacing south with a northward orientation, the temple features a two-courtyard layout covering an area of 5,598 square meters. Along the central axis, the structures are arranged in sequence: the Mountain Gate, Heavenly King Hall, Amitabha Hall, Three Buddha Cave, and Scripture Repository. The Amitabha Hall and the lower cave section of the Scripture Repository retain their original Yuan Dynasty construction, while the remaining structures were built during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The Mountain Gate is designed as a wooden archway-style structure, with seven layers of bracket sets supporting its majestic eaves. Bell and Drum Towers flank the east and west sides. The main buildings showcase the single-eave hip-and-gable roof style, surrounded by arched doorways. Wooden archways and east-west wing rooms enclose a small courtyard, creating a serene skywell layout.

No. 7 of Fall Viewing Attractions in Linfen

Fencheng Ancient Building Complex

Fencheng Ancient Building Complex was the site of Taiping County during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It currently preserves theCity God Temple,Confucian Temple,Examination Hall,County Government Office, Guan Temple,Drum Tower, Hongji Bridge, and many other ancient buildings from the Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The overall scale is quite impressive. In 1912, it was renamed Fencheng County because the county name was duplicated elsewhere. Later, it merged with Xiangling County to become Xiangfen, and the appearance of the old town has been preserved intact.

Zaixiang Village (Prime Ministers’ Village)

China's "Prime Minister Village" is Peibai Village, Liyuan Town, Wenxi County, 25 kilometers away from the county seat. It is the hometown of prime ministers. Wenxi Pei family is a well-known family in the history of Chinese feudal society. According to the "Pei Family Genealogy", the Pei family has produced 59 prime ministers and thousands of other officials in history. It can be said that "generals and ministers are connected, and dukes and marquises are from the same family." China's "Prime Minister Village" got its name from this. In Peibai Village today, there are many historical relics of the Pei family, such as buildings, steles, and tombs. The Pei Stele Gallery preserves dozens of ancient steles, which are of great value in terms of historical materials and calligraphy art. Among them, the Pei Hong Stele, a combination of Wei and Li, is inscribed in a steady style in the third year of Dahe (568) during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. The Pei Clan Ancestral Hall (also known as the Jin Gong Temple) was first built in the third year of Zhenguan (629 AD) during the Tang Dynasty. It is large in scale and magnificent in style. It has been rebuilt in all dynasties. The existing architectural relics include the front hall, the back hall, and the Zhuangyuan Square. The Pei Stele Gallery is almost an encyclopedia of Chinese calligraphy and stone carvings. There were originally dozens of ancient steles, which are of great value in terms of history and calligraphy art. The Pei family tomb is located in Fenghuangyuan, five kilometers east of Peibai Village. In the past, there were numerous tombs and steles. Although most of them are now flattened and destroyed, their general appearance can still be seen, and some cemeteries still have stone steles.

Temple of Literature

Temple of LiteratureNot only a historic ancient architectural complex, but also a symbol of China's outstanding traditional culture. It represents Confucian heritage, showcasing rich historical legacy and unique scenic attractions.

Jinguo Museum

Located in Qucun Town, Quwo County, Jin State Museum is the first site museum in the province with Jin culture as its theme, built on the basis of the national key cultural relic protection unit "Qucun-Tianma Site". It was officially opened to the public on National Day in 2014. It is the first large-scale site museum in Shanxi Province that integrates cultural relic collection, protection, research and cultural relic display, and is a platform that fully displays the historical and cultural features of Jin State. The Jin State Museum takes Jin culture as its theme and has created three highlights: the history of Jin State, the history of excavation, and the site exhibition. The History and Culture Exhibition Hall uses the history of Jin State as a clue and, through a large number of precious cultural relics unearthed from the tombs of Jin Hou, shows a series of major events that have influenced the course of ancient Chinese history, including the enfeoffment of Tang by Shu Yu, the change of Tang to Jin by Xie Fu, the loyalty of Wen Hou to the king, the expansion of territory by Xiangong, the hegemony of Wen Gong, the dictatorship of the six nobles, and the division of Jin by the three families. The Site Excavation History Exhibition Hall shows the hardships, extensive reading of geography, and search for evidence by three generations of archaeologists from the School of Archaeology and Museum Studies of Peking University and the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, as well as a series of major achievements in archaeological excavation; the Site Exhibition Hall adopts a method of one site and one display method, focusing on the four groups of tombs of Jin Hou and his wives and three chariot pits, presenting the audience with a panoramic picture of the tombs of kings and princes of the state during the Western Zhou period. The "Qucun-Tianma Site" where the Jin State Museum is located is large in scale, starting from Tianma Village in Yicheng County in the east, Qucun Town in Quwo County in the west, starting from the bank of Fu River in the south, and reaching Qiaoshan slope in the north. The site is 3,800 meters long from east to west, 2,800 meters wide from north to south, and covers an area of ​​nearly 11 square kilometers. After more than ten consecutive large-scale explorations and excavations by Peking University and the Shanxi Institute of Archaeology, a total area of ​​12,000 square meters was revealed, and more than 1,000 tombs were excavated, including more than 800 tombs from the Zhou Dynasty. Especially in the core area of ​​the site, nine groups of 19 tombs of early Jin monarchs and their wives, ten chariot pits, and more than 12,000 precious cultural relics of various types were discovered. The excavation results provided support for the solution of the chronicle of the Western Zhou kings in my country's "Xia, Shang and Zhou Chronology Project". It was listed as one of the top ten archaeological discoveries in China in 1992 and 1993, and was rated as one of the 100 major archaeological discoveries in China in the 20th century in 2001.

Pujing Temple

Sanguan Temple

Sanguan Temple is a temple dedicated to the Taoist Three Pure Ones. Sanguan Temple was founded in the first year of the Zhizheng reign of the Yuan Dynasty and was renovated during both the Ming and Qing dynasties. Because there was originally a large stone gourd in front of the temple, it is commonly known as the "Gourd Temple." Sanguan Temple faces west, covers an area of approx. 260 m², and currently consists of two buildings: the Yuan Dynasty main hall and the Qing Dynasty offering hall. There are eight stone tablets from the Ming and Qing dynasties inside the temple. The main hall architecture and the clay colored sculptures inside Sanguan Temple are physical examples of the peak period of Taoist belief and culture in the Yuan Dynasty, providing significant help for researching the history of the spread and localization of Taoism in the southern Shanxi region of China.