The twin pagodas
Thirteen storeys.
HerryCFPL — CC0 · 林高志 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Julien Lozelli — CC BY 2.0 · XXXAKI — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 林高志 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China — CC0 · Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China — CC0 · Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China — CC0
The emblem of Taiyuan: two neighbouring Ming-dynasty pagodas that are the tallest twin pagodas in China, each octagonal with thirteen storeys, the western one 54.78 metres high with eaves of glossy green glazed tile and the eastern one 53.3 metres, both built in the decades around 1600. Over time the east pagoda leaned nearly three metres off centre, and in 1995 engineers set it straight by removing earth from beneath it. The grounds hold some 260 carved stone steles gathered from temples that no longer stand, and peony gardens that include a plant from the Ming dynasty, flowering in late spring. Today the site is run as the «Twin Pagoda Museum», and visitors come for the pagodas, the gardens and the carved steles. Tickets cost CNY 30 from April to October and 20 the rest of the year, and it is open from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm in season and from 9 am to 5 pm in winter, per visitor guides.
Thirteen storeys.
Blooming in spring.
Some 260 of them.
Haozhuang, south-east Taiyuan, Shanxi
In late spring, usually from late April to early May, the most beautiful time to visit.
The city has many restaurants run by Hui Muslims under the halal sign serving knife-cut noodles and lamb, while other restaurants may serve pork, so ask before ordering.