"Jinci", the ancient Buddhist temple, is located at the source of the Jin River by Xuanweng Mountain 25km southwest of Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province.

The Jinci Temple was first built before the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) to memorize Shu Yu, the second son of King Wu of the Zhou Dynasty (11th century - 256 BC). After defeating the Shang Dynasty (17th century - 11th century BC), King Wu offered official posts to his followers and Shu Yu was assigned the post in Tang area, and he changed title of his fiefdom to Jin because of the Jinshui River. His offspring named the Jinci Temple for the same reason.

The main buildings are distributed along the central axis from east to west. They are the Shuijing Platform, the Huixian Bridge, the Jinren Platform, the Duiyue Hall, the Bell and Drum Towers, the Xian Hall, the Yuzhao Feiliang (Fish Pond and Flying Girder) Hall and the Shengmu (Goddess Mother) Hall. North to them are the Shuyu Temple, the Wutianshen Temple and the Wenchang Hall; south to them are the Shuimu Hall, the Nanlao Spring Pavilion and the Sheli Shengsheng Tower. All the buildings are in compact and strict structures of a temple in a sense, but it is also an imperial garden from another perspective. The cypresses grown in the Zhou Dynasty and pagoda trees of the Sui Dynasty (581-617) are still vigorous, lush and green. Despite the trials and hardships of thousands of years, their old branches form a crisscross network and are reputed with the restless the Nanlao Spring, wonderful portraits of the maids in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) as three matchless works in the Jinci Temple.

There are three additional wonders that draw people from across the world to the temple. These are: The Figures of The Maidservants, the Zhou Cypress and the Never Aging Spring. Each of the Figures of the Maidservants that stand in the Saint Mother Hall, colored clay sculptures made during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), are unique. Whether these statuettes are washing, sweeping or dancing, they are all sculpted in a vivid and natural way.

Jinci Temple was, to a certain extent, an imperial garden. Accordingly, some three hundred tablets were inscribed for it with writings by emperors, officials and poets, and these now line a scenic path in the temple. The most famous stele was written by the Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty in 646, and it was kept in a pavilion which is now known as 'Zhen Guan Bao Han Pavilion'. Taizong was one of the great emperors of Chinese history. The time from which he inherited the throne from his father became known as the Prosperity of Zhenguan, and people referred to the calligraphy written by him as ' Bao Han', meaing a kind of treasure.

 Admission Fee: 40 RMB
Opening Hours: 07:30 to 18:30
Recommended Time for a Visit: Two hours
Bus Route: 804