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Although Shanxi still remains a relatively backward province in China, with the
exploiting of its ancient tourist attractions and newly discovered coal resources, recent
years have witnessed rapid progress made in the transport sector. By plane: There is only one airport in the province, at Taiyuan. There are daily
flights to and from Beijing,
Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xi"an, as well as infrequent
flights to and from Tianjin,
Chengdu, Nanjing and Hong Kong. For detailed
information, please check the corresponding section in the transportation introduction of Taiyuan. By train: Rail transport links in the province are far in excess of
the demand that tourism puts upon the province. It is coal that is the cause of this,
since Shanxi provides 30% of the coal resources for the whole of China. As a result,
cobwebs of railway lines (the most obvious the north-south Datong-Fenglingdu
line and the east-west Beijing-Baotou and Beijing-Taiyuan
lines), have been built to export these resources to where they are in most demand. The
problem is that trains in Shanxi, probably due to excessive quantity, run slower than the
nation"s average. By bus: Due to relatively poor road conditions, buses in the province
run at a relative speed even slower than that of the trains. However, bus travel has a few
advantages. First, there are many more choices if you travel by bus. Second, buses reach
attractions that are currently inaccessible by train, especially the famed Yungang Grottoes near Datong, the Hukou Falls near Linfen, Wutaishan
Mountain and the Hanging Monastery
in Hengshan. |
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