Its strategic location and rich history make Taiyuan one of the economic, political, military, and cultural centers of Northern China.

[11] In 497 BC, the first ancient city of Jinyang was built around the southern Jinyuan District of present-day Taiyuan, by Dong Anyu (董安于), who was a steward of Zhao Jianzi [zh] (赵鞅), an upper-level official of the state of Jin.

[11] Between 229 and 228 BC, Qin General Li Xin lead two armies that marched from the cities of Taiyuan and Yunzhong to attack Zhao's northern commandery of Dai.

Following the ending of the Jin dynasty, ethnic minority peoples settled a series of short-lived sovereign states in northern China, commonly referred to as Sixteen Kingdoms.

In 618, Li Yuan founded Tang dynasty, which is generally considered a golden age of Chinese civilization.

The siege was lifted after three months, as heavy rains caused diseases in the besieging army, the supplies were running low, and another Khitan relief force was advancing towards the city.

[17] Taizu's brother Taizong subjugated the last independent kingdoms in the south of China by 978, and in 979 launched the third campaign against the Northern Han and its overlord the Khitan state of Liao.

Using the north-western route instead of the southern (used in the previous campaigns) the armies of Taizong defeated a major Liao force.

Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty in 1271, and the administrative area of Taiyuan Lu (太原路) was expanded.

In 1368, Hongwu Emperor established the Ming dynasty, and Taiyuan was obtained from Yuan, by General Xu Da.

In 1644, Shunzhi founded the Qing dynasty and defeated the Great Shun Army in Taiyuan in the same year.

[22] The warlord Yan Xishan retained control of Shanxi from the Xinhai Revolution in 1911 to the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

Until the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, Yan's arsenal in Taiyuan was the only factory in China sufficiently advanced to produce field artillery.

After concluding his alliance with the Communists, he allowed agents under Zhou Enlai to establish a secret headquarters in Taiyuan.

[24] Yan, under the slogan "resistance against the enemy and defense of the soil", attempted to recruit young patriotic intellectuals to his government from across China.

[25] A representative of the Japanese army, speaking of the final defense of Taiyuan, said that "nowhere in China have the Chinese fought so obstinately".

[27] Taiyuan was the last area in Shanxi to resist Communist control during the final stages of the Chinese Civil War.

[6][30] It commands the north–south route through the province, as well as important natural lines of transportation through the Taihang Mountains to Hebei in the east and to northern Shaanxi in the west.

Taiyuan is abundant in natural resources such as coal, iron, marble, silica, bauxite, limestone, graphite, quartz, phosphorus, gypsum, mica, copper, and gold.

[40] Taiyuan had suffered from severe air pollution, especially in the 1990s, and the first decade of the 21st century,[41] and once it was even listed among the ten most air-polluted cities in the world.

[citation needed] In early 2016 the city began the conversion of all its 8000 taxi fleet into purely electric vehicles, initially using BYD Auto model E6.

[citation needed] Taiyuan is one of the main national hubs for the high-speed railway system of Northern China.

The conventional-speed Taiyuan–Zhongwei–Yinchuan railway, opened in 2011, provides a direct connection with western Shanxi, northern Shaanxi, Ningxia, and points further west.

Taiyuan's local specialities include: [citation needed] The Shanxi Brave Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association play at Riverside Sports Arena.

The remnants of old Taiyuan can be found west of the central station, north of Fudong Street and close to Wuyi Road.

The Twin Towers in Yongzuo Temple, which are featured in the emblem of the city, have been regarded as a symbol of Taiyuan for a long time.

[60] Along the West Mountain range in western Taiyuan, tourists can find Tianlongshan Grottoes, which were gradually built over many centuries, from the northern Qi dynasty, and contains thousands of Buddhist statues and artwork.

The grottoes exist today in a damaged state with many of the sculptures now missing, that visitors to the caves cannot imagine how they looked in the past.

However, though the sculptures may be preserved and displayed, visitors to museums cannot understand them in their original historical, spatial, and religious contexts.

5The claimed province of Taiwan no longer have any internal division announced by Ministry of Civil Affairs of PRC, due to lack of actual jurisdiction.