[2025 Jiexiu Attraction] Travel Guide for City God Temple (Updated Jul)

There are many glass craftsmen in Jiexiu, so don't miss them when you come to Jinzhong. Jiexiu Houtu Temple, Jiexiu City God Temple, Jiexiu Zoroastrianism Tower, Jiexiu Museum B1 Glass Exhibition! Too beautiful, can't see enough. Zoroastrianism Tower, City God Temple and Museum are free, Houtu Temple is 20 yuan. There are few people and beautiful scenery. It is especially pleasant to appreciate it slowly when the weather is good.

In-depth travel guide to Pingyao Ancient City: A time-travel journey through the Ming and Qing dynasties Pingyao Ancient City is located in central Shanxi Province and is one of the best-preserved Ming and Qing county towns in China, with a history of over 2,800 years. It was listed as a World Cultural Heritage site in 1997. Every brick and tile here carries the profound heritage of Shanxi merchant culture. Strolling through it feels like stepping into a living "Along the River During the Qingming Festival." 📸 Highlights and must-visit spots 1. Ancient City Wall and Sunset - South Gate (Yingxun Gate): The best spot to climb the city wall! At dusk, the setting sun gilds the blue brick alleys, overlooking the entire Pingyao Ancient City, Rishengchang Draft Bank, City God Temple, Ming and Qing Street, Yingxun Gate, City God Temple, and the turtle-shaped ancient city (named for its "earth" character layout). Every snap is a masterpiece. - Walking the city wall loop: If you have the energy, walk around the city wall (about 1 hour) to fully experience the ancient city’s layout and bustling street life. 2. The Financial Heart of Shanxi Merchants - Rishengchang Draft Bank: China’s first bank, with restored accounting rooms where you can experience writing ancient drafts. Wearing Hanfu and taking traditional-style photos creates a great atmosphere. - Ming and Qing Street (South Street): Known as "China’s Wall Street," red lanterns hang on both sides of the bluestone road. The Escort Agency Museum and Xietongqing Underground Vault (pretend to be a bank manager) are hidden here. 3. Immersive Cultural Experiences - Pingyao County Government Office: The largest ancient county government office in China. At 9:30 AM and 3:30 PM daily, the "County Magistrate’s Court Session" is performed, offering interactive fun. - City God Temple Opera Stage: Red silk wish ribbons flutter, and the ancient stage backdrop naturally adds a time-travel filter, a unique photo spot. - Confucian Temple and Imperial Examination Museum: Feel the thousand-year Confucian atmosphere between red walls and green tiles. Authentic imperial exam papers are worth a close look. 🍜 Must-try local delicacies - Pingyao Beef: Bright red, salty, fragrant, and tender. Highly recommend the old Chen vinegar-braised beef at Hongwu Ji Restaurant, where the vinegar flavor soaks into the meat, perfect with rice. - Two ways to enjoy Wantuo (a local noodle dish): cold and refreshing (Dong Ji stir-fried Wantuo) or hot and chewy (served with fried dough twists or ham). The texture is like cold skin noodles but more springy. - Shanxi Copper Hotpot: Lao Zhao’s charcoal slow stew, with crispy meat, meatballs, and vermicelli blending in bone broth. Dip in special spicy sauce for a warming and satisfying taste. - Unique desserts: Liang Xiansen’s yogurt with aged vinegar is slightly sour and sweet, surprisingly harmonious with sea buckthorn fruit bits. 🏡 Stay in the ancient city: Overnight through a thousand years - Core area of South Street: Deshenglou Inn (ancient-style opera courtyard), Hongwu Ji upstairs, with windows overlooking the bustling Ming and Qing Street. Attractions are within a 5-minute walk. - Quiet courtyards on Yamen Street: Yuchengyuan (a century-old three-entry courtyard), Nanshuyuan (family suites + tea house), peaceful yet not far from the hustle and bustle. - North Street design spaces: Shiman Holiday Courtyard (smart home + Ming and Qing courtyard), parking lot accessible immediately after exiting the north gate for self-driving tourists. ✨ Insider tips: Avoid crowds, play smart 1. Best times: - 7 AM: Enjoy the empty ancient streets and take prime photos with soft light. - 9 PM: 3D light show at Yingxun Gate Square, the ancient city wall transforms into a giant screen. 2. Transportation tips: - Take the high-speed train to Pingyao Ancient City Station, then a 10-minute taxi to the city; for regular trains, choose Pingyao Station, a 20-minute walk to the city. - Walking is the only way inside! The stone roads are uneven, so wear sneakers. 3. Bonus experiences: - Rent Shanxi merchant lady Hanfu (recommended Yun Jin Tang) for dramatic photos at the draft bank and old residences. - Buy lacquerware jewelry boxes and homemade vinegar from the family vinegar shop (hawthorn/persimmon flavors) as souvenirs, crafted with intangible cultural heritage skills. The charm of Pingyao lies in the seamless blend of history and daily life. Explore the escort agency and banks by day, chew beef while watching lanterns light up at dusk, and stay in a century-old courtyard listening to the wind through carved windows—this "living ancient city" awaits you to decode its millennia-old secrets.

I've taken my mom to many countries and cities before. I'll also release a video version, which will present a more detailed travel experience. Welcome everyone to stay tuned! 🥰Overall Impression: "Return from Jiexiu, see no more glazed pottery." Compared to Pingyao, Jiexiu, the "Glazed Pottery Capital of China," is less well-known, but it boasts the Aoshen Tower, one of the "Three Famous Towers of Shanxi," and the Houtu Temple, known as the "Museum of Glazed Pottery Art," both still vibrant after thousands of years. I recommend everyone to visit this colorful small city! Surprise! The Lingkong Tower has no stairs from the fourth floor upwards. You have to use both hands and feet to climb vertically up and down. I admire myself for climbing to the ninth floor! 📖Guide is here! 🚝Transportation: Train, Beijing Fengtai - Jiexiu East, 4 hrs 🏨Accommodation: Mehood Lestie Hotel near Beitan Middle Road 🍜Specialties: Lao Jiexiu Restaurant, Zuima Zhanpianze Daquan 🚕: Ride-hailing apps are available, but there are no private cars, only taxis, which are easy to hail. The drivers I met were all very nice. ❌This is not the case now! (Except for museums, other attractions are closed from 12:00-14:30) 🥰My Slow Travel Itinerary D1: Take the high-speed rail to Jiexiu East Station, take a taxi to the ancient city, check in, and have Jiexiu cuisine for dinner. D2: (Taxi) Taiheyan Archway → (Taxi back) Houtu Temple → (Walk) Wuyue Temple (currently closed) → (Walk) Jiexiu City God Temple → (Walk) Aoshen Tower → (Walk) Jiexiu Museum → Dinner D3: (Taxi) Lingkong Tower → (Taxi) Zhangbi Ancient Fortress → Take the high-speed rail back to Beijing in the afternoon ☺️Recommended One-Day Itinerary: (Taxi) Taiheyan Archway → (Taxi back) Houtu Temple → (Walk) Wuyue Temple (currently closed) → (Walk) Jiexiu City God Temple → (Walk) Aoshen Tower → (Walk) Jiexiu Museum → (Taxi) Lingkong Tower → (Taxi) Zhangbi Ancient Fortress 🎫Tickets: All free, ID registration required at the entrance. Zhangbi Ancient Fortress: 75 📍Taiheyan Archway Originally the front archway of the Zhenwu Temple (now destroyed), located in Beixinwu Village, Yian Town, Jiexiu City, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province. Built in the 23rd year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1897). The archway is richly decorated and is a typical masterpiece of Chinese glazed pottery art during its Ming and Qing Dynasty heyday. 📍Houtu Temple A Quanzhen Taoist temple, the original construction date is unknown, with written records dating back to the Northern Wei Dynasty of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It is a rare gem of Ming and Qing Dynasty pavilion-style architecture and was listed as a fifth-batch national protected site in 2001. It is known as the "Museum of Glazed Pottery Art." 📍Aoshen Tower Originally built in the Northern Song Dynasty, it is the only remaining Zoroastrian building in China. It was rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty and is known as one of the "Three Famous Towers of Shanxi" along with the Qiufeng Tower and Feiyun Tower in Wanrong County. It was listed as a fourth-batch national protected site in 1996. Zoroastrianism, also known as fire worship, is an ancient religion that has disappeared. This tower is said to have been built by the Confucian minister Wen Yanbo during the Northern Song Dynasty. 📍City God Temple Built during the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty, it is a well-preserved ancient wooden building and was listed as a seventh-batch national protected site in 2013. 📍Wuyue Temple Originally built in the Ming Dynasty, the roof ridges are decorated with glazed pottery, primarily in peacock blue. It was listed as a sixth-batch national protected site in 2006. Unfortunately, it was closed. 📍Lingkong Tower Also known as Gugu Shen Tower and Longfeng Tower, it is located near Longfeng Village. Nine stories high, stairs lead to the third floor. From the fourth floor onwards, you need to climb straight up and down, which is challenging but definitely worth it! 📍Zhangbi Ancient Fortress Backed by Mianshan Mountain, it is higher in the south and lower in the north, forming a rectangle. Looking down from the north of the fortress, there are three deep gullies extending downwards on the left, middle, and right. There are three external passages to the south of the fortress. To the west is Yaowan Gully, with steep cliffs and slopes more than 30 meters deep. The east side overlooks the surroundings, with gullies and trenches as barriers, making it "easy to defend and difficult to attack, with escape routes." The streets and alleys are clearly structured, with shops and ancient houses on both sides. The most famous is the Khan Shrine. Existing temples include the Kongwang Shrine and the Guan Di Temple. The Zhangbi Ancient Fortress has a network of underground tunnels, forming an underground military defense system.

Jiexiu is named after Jie Zitui, a famous minister of Duke Wen of Jin, one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period. It is also the birthplace of the Cold Food Festival and the Qingming Festival. The City God Temple of Jiexiu is located at No. 285, East Street, Jiexiu City, Shanxi Province. It is mainly used to worship the City God, who is regarded as the god in charge of the city and the guardian of the land. It is a key cultural relic under state protection. The City God Temple was built during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. It faces south and has a rigorous layout. It is tall, magnificent, and well-proportioned. The central axis is composed of a screen wall, a mountain gate, a stage, a main hall, and a sleeping hall from south to north. On both sides are the bell tower, drum tower, and side halls. The main part of the temple is well-preserved, with a high level of design and a well-documented history of repairs. It is an important example of ancient wooden architecture. The main hall has seven rooms, with a double-eave hip roof and yellow-green glazed ridge decorations. The glazed ridge tiles, ridge beasts, and roof figurines are perfectly shaped and colored. The glazed windbreak boards and hanging fish are particularly exquisite. Unfortunately, they cannot be fully seen from inside the temple, so it is recommended to take photos from outside. The temple originally enshrined a statue of the City God, with judges, ox-headed and horse-faced demons, and black and white impermanence ghosts on both sides. Unlike other City God Temples, this temple has an abacus and two plaques. One plaque has the three characters "明白处" (Ming Bai Chu) in running script, and the other has the five characters "你也来了么" (Ni Ye Lai Le Ma). The large abacus is used by the City God to calculate the length of life and the amount of good and evil deeds. Near the abacus is a banner with the words "不由人算" (Bu You Ren Suan), meaning that life and death are determined by heaven. The music building in the temple has a hard mountain roof with a rolled shed structure. The top is decorated with yellow-green glazed ridge spires, ridge beasts, and square glazed tiles. The ridge beasts, roof figurines, pavilions, and vases are all perfectly shaped and colored. There is a passage on the lower level of the music building that leads to the temple courtyard. The attraction is free to visit, but registration is required. It is closed on Mondays and has a lunch break from 12:00 to 2:00. It is close to the Houtu Temple, the Xianshen Tower, and the museum. Note that Jiexiu attractions have a lunch break, so you can visit the museum during this time and plan your itinerary accordingly.

Because Liuli knows Jiexiu Jiexiu One-Day City Walk Route Hou Tu Temple→Cheng Huang Temple→Zao Shen Tower→Jiexiu Museum I didn't go to the Taiheyan Archway which is a little further away. 1⃣Houtu Temple It is a Taoist Quanzhen Sect temple building. The main buildings include Sanqing Building, Houtu Temple, Guandi Temple, Tushen Temple, etc. The roof of the entire building is decorated with blue, yellow and green glazed products, which sparkle in the sun. 💰Tickets: Free. Enter with your Mainland China ID card. If you don’t have your Mainland China ID card, just register. 🕙 Closed on Monday 2⃣Chenghuang Temple It takes more than ten minutes to walk from Hou Tu Temple to Cheng Huang Temple. The overall layout of the City God Temple is grand in scale and complete in form. The screen wall, mountain gate, ceremonial gate, stage, offering hall, main hall, and rear sleeping hall are arranged in sequence along the central axis, with bell and drum towers on both sides. The exquisite glazed components on the roof of the building are the few Ming Dynasty relics that still exist in Jiexiu. The glazed ridge tiles, the beast-shaped owl tails, the immortals and animals, and the pavilion vases are perfect in both color glaze and shape, and have high cultural relic and artistic value. 💰Tickets: Free, just register with your Mainland China ID card 🕙 Closed on Monday 3⃣Ao Shen Lou It takes about a quarter of an hour to walk from Chenghuang Temple to Ao Shen Tower. It is the only ancient Zoroastrian building preserved in China. 4⃣Jiexiu Museum Ao Shen Lou is a five-minute walk from Jiexiu Museum. Time was a bit tight, so I mainly went to the basement to see the glass The super cute yellow glazed beast is also here, with round eyes and furrowed brows. 💰Tickets: Free, just register with your Mainland China ID card 🕙 Closed on Monday

| A treasure city full of glazed tiles.💫Jiexiu, named after Jie Zitui, a famous minister of the State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period, is the hometown of Qingming Cold Food Culture and Chinese Glazed Tile. 💞This small city, only about 30 kilometers away from Pingyao Ancient City, is not visited by many tourists, but it is the city with the best experience for me. Jiexiu is really a treasure. I recommend the following places: ✅Hou Tu Temple A Taoist temple of the Quanzhen School, the highest-level ancient building complex in Jiexiu, famous for its well-preserved glazed tile art, known as the "Glazed Tile Art Museum". The main hall of Hou Tu is covered with golden glazed tiles, which are magnificent and dazzling under the sunlight. ✅City God Temple Jiexiu City God Temple, founded during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, faces south. Entering the courtyard, the first thing you see is the offering pavilion under the stage, followed by the main hall. The glazed tiles on the roof of the main hall are particularly beautiful, but there are surprisingly few visitors to the City God Temple. Only the grandpas playing chess at the entrance are lively. ✅Five Sacred Mountains Temple Famous for the "Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl" sculpture on the central pillar of the main hall, but the gate is closed all year round. ✅Xian Shen Lou The only surviving Zoroastrian building in China, the Xian Shen Lou has two floors and a "convex" shape. The lower floor is the temple gate, the upper floor is the music hall, and the center is the shrine. There is a flat seat and railing around the waist, and the upper part is covered by a double eaves roof. Four pillars directly support the upper floor beams, the gate and stage are stacked on top of each other, the roof is a cross-shaped hip roof, and the eaves protrude in four directions. All tile ridges and decorations are made of glazed tiles, magnificent and spectacular. ✅Taiheyan Archway Taiheyan Archway, with a history of over 100 years, is definitely the most beautiful peacock blue glazed tile, no argument. The archway's lintel, brackets, plaque, drip tiles, ridge beasts, and various floral patterns and characters are all made of yellow, green, and blue glazed tiles. The sunlight shines through, creating a dazzling and elegant effect. ✅Jiexiu Museum Jiexiu Museum is adjacent to the Xian Shen Lou. You can spend half an hour visiting the glazed tile exhibition on the lower floor. Other exhibition halls are not recommended. 💗Tips: Except for the Taiheyan Glazed Tile Archway, the other attractions are basically within a hundred meters of each other. You can walk or take the free No. 1 bus to get there. 📷Documentary: "China Image Chronicle" - Shanxi Jiexiu Episode 🚶‍♂️Two-day tour route: 1: Jiexiu Museum → Tianshen Tower → Five Sacred Mountains Temple → City God Temple → Hou Tu Temple 2: Mianshan → Zhangbi Ancient Fort

Shanxi has always been a tourist hotspot in the country. Even though Black Myth Wukong has driven a certain amount of traffic, it is only limited to the few marked attractions. As Jiexiu, the hometown of glass, there are still very few tourists even in the summer. The City God's Temple in Jiexiu was built in the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. The existing buildings except the main hall are all Qing Dynasty buildings. After the founding of New China, the Jiexiu City God's Temple was used as a grain station, and the mountain gate, screen wall and glazed lions were all demolished. Reconstructed in 2011. The main hall is currently not open to the public. Taking pictures at the Xiandian (i.e. Xianting) in front of the main hall is more productive. Whether you use the pillars to take pictures of the stage in front or the main hall in the back, it is very impressive. You can focus on the glazed component on the roof of the main hall, which is one of the few surviving Ming Dynasty structures in Jiexiu. Both the color glaze and the shape are perfect and have high cultural relic and artistic value. This scenic spot is relatively deserted, and its beauty is inferior to that of Houtu Temple. Fortunately, they are both within the city and relatively close. No tickets are required. You can enter after registration. It is also very suitable for taking pictures.

The central axis from south to north includes the screen wall, the mountain gate, the ceremonial gate, the stage, the offering hall, the main hall, and the rear sleeping hall. On both sides are the bell tower, the drum tower, the east and west side halls, and the east and west buttress halls. The main parts of Jiexiu Chenghuang Temple are relatively well-preserved, with a high level of structure and clear records of repairs and changes. It is an important example of ancient wooden architecture. The main hall of Chenghuang Temple is a relic from the Ming Dynasty, with five bays in width and three bays in depth. It has a surrounding corridor, double-eaved hip-and-gable roof, and yellow-green glazed ridge decorations. The upper eaves have seven-stepped and three-protruding dougong brackets, while the lower eaves have five-stepped and two-protruding dougong brackets.