Although its residents never tire of pointing out that Taiyuan is 2500 years old very little of the old city remains. Taiyuan is now a gritty industrial hub centered around coal mining and other heavy industry. One oasis of tranquility amidst the skyscrapers, immense blocks of apartment buildings, and huge billboards touting not socialist slogans but women’s undergarments is the Shuangta Si, or Twin Pagodas Temple Complex. This consists of two 160 foot high, 13 story pagodas, several temples, and nicely manicured gardens. The complex was built in the years 1699-1716 by a monk named Fu Deng.
