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| Introduction |
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Shuozhou is seated in the northern part of Shanxi Province. It is 200 km north of Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi, 129 km from Datong and 502 km from Beijing, the capital city of China. Inner Mongolia Plateau is adjacent to the city to the north.
Shuozhou covers an area of 10,700 sq km, of which 60% is mountainous and hilly area. With a typical continental monsoon climate, the city has distinct four seasons and an average temperature of 6.4°C.
The city is easily accessible by highway, rail and air. The Datong-Yuncheng Highway, which is linked with the Beijing-Datong Highway, goes through the city. The Suozhou-Huanghua Railway starts from the city, linking the city with other major cities in Shanxi Province and Hebei Province. Renhuai Airport, 90 km from downtown Shuozhou, and Pingshuo Airport provide regular flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an and other cities.
Shuozhou is home to 25 kinds of mineral resources, such as coal, kaolin, copper and quartz. The coal reserves in the city exceed 50 billion tons. The city also has an abundant supply of power. It generates over 15.9 billion kilowatts of electricity every year.
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| Economic Features |
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Shuozhou's economy is relatively small. In 2010, the GDP of the city grew 13.8% from a year earlier to RMB 67.01 billion, being the third smallest economy in Shanxi Province. The value-added output from primary industry, secondary industry and tertiary industry reached RMB 4.05 billion, RMB 37.9 billion and RMB 25.06 billion, comprising 6%, 56.6% and 37.4% of the city's GDP, respectively.
In 2010, the value-added industrial output from the enterprises with designated size and above totaled RMB 36 billion, with an increase of 18.1% year on year. Heavy industry dominates the city's industrial sector. Heavy industry and light industry generated RMB 34.72 billion and RMB 1.29 billion in value-added industrial output, accounting for 96.4% and 3.6% of the city's total, respectively.
The city is a coal mining base in Shanxi Province. In 2010, the coal output from the city increased by 26.1% to 159.94 million tons, nearly one fifth of Shanxi's total. The four traditional pillar industries, coal mining, food manufacturing, non-metal product processing and electricity, have combined sales revenue of RMB 70.23 billion, accounting for 94.5% of the industrial sector. Besides, transportation equipment manufacturing and pharmaceuticals are two emerging industries.
Pingshuo Coal Mining Industrial and Shentou Power Plant are large enterprises in the city. Pingshuo Coal Mining Industrial was set up in 1982. It covers several coal mines in Pingsuo Mining Area, such as Anjialing Mine and Antaibao Mine. The annual production capacity of Anjialing Mine is 15.4 million tons, and the annual production capacity of Antaibao Mine is 15 million tons.
Shentou Power Plant, located in Shentou Town of Shuozhou, was constructed by China and Czechoslovakia. It has 12 electricity generation units, with total installed electricity generation capacity of 3.3 million kilowatts. Shentou Power Plant consists of No.1 Shentou Power Plant and No.2 Shentou Power Plant. Stage II of No.2 Shentou Power Plant is still under construction.
Service industry has seen a stable growth in 2010. The value-added output from the service sector in Shuozhou was up 11.9% to RMB 25.06 billion, accounting for 37.4% of the city's GDP. The sales of consumer goods rose 18.3% year on year to RMB 13.96 billion in 2010.
The foreign trade in the city saw a strong growth. The foreign trade value in the city was US$125.02 million, with a sharp rise of 10.2% year on year. The export value increased 68.4% to US$9.67 million, while import value rose 7.1% to US$115.35 million. Coal, ceramic products and chemical products are the major export products from Shuozhou. The U.S., Japan, Germany and South Korea are the largest foreign trade partners of Shuozhou.
In 2010, the city has approved one new foreign invested projects with total FDI of US$65.59 million. The U.S.-headquartered Engelhard Corporation, which is a world's leading supplier of the catalysts used in the petroleum, chemical, and food industries, acquired Shanxi Shuozhou Anping Kaolin Co Ltd for RMB 100 million in 2006.
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| Cultural Highlights |
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Shuozhou's history stretches back to about 28,000 years ago, when human beings began to settle in the territory. During the Warring States Period (476 BC-221 BC), Shuozhou was under the control of the Zhao Kingdom. After the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC) when China was unified, the central government began to set up counties and prefectures to administrate this area. Due to its important geographic location, the region always served as a battlefield in ancient times. Shuozhou was promoted to be a prefecture-level city in 1989.
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| Tourist Attraction |
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Shuozhou is rich in scenic spots. Yingxian Pagoda, constructed in AD1056 during the Liao Dynasty, was built entirely of wood. It is located in the Fogong Temple northwest of Yingxian County. The Yingxian Pagoda is the oldest and highest wooden pagoda in China. It is a collection of fine subtle Buddha Statues. Chongfu Temple, also known as the Damiao Temple, lies in Shuocheng District. First built in the Tang Dynasty (AD618-907), it is the largest ancient building complex in northern Shanxi Province. Other notable scenic spots in the city include the Paleolithic ruins in Bianyao, Shiyu and Emaokou, Qingliang Mountain and Yanmen Pass. Yanmen Pass, built in the early Tang Dynasty, is a garrison for troops.
The most popular local snack in Shuozhou is Yingzhou Niu Yao, a kind of fried flour food. Fried Yellow Rice Pie and Mutton Soup also enjoy a high reputation among tourists.
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