Get to know Wanbailin District
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- Administrative area
- District · 市辖区
- Part of
- Taiyuan
- Chinese name
- 万柏林区
- Local areas
- District guide
Area & population
- Population · 2020
- 951,238
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Setting and landscape
The land is high in the west, where the hills rise, and flattens into a strip of plain along the Fen in the east. Three rivers, the Yumen (玉门河), Huyu (虎峪河) and Jiuyuan Sha (九院沙河), run down from the hills into the Fen. The Yingze (迎泽大桥), Shengli (胜利桥) and Yifen (漪汾桥) bridges are among those that link the two banks of the Fen.
History
Chinese Wikipedia records that the warlord Yan Xishan (阎锡山) planted ten thousand cypresses on the west bank, meaning to turn the ground into a cemetery called Wanbailing (万柏陵), "ten-thousand-cypress tomb". The cemetery was never built, and residents, disliking the word for tomb, swapped it for the homophone "lin" (林), forest. The district first took the name in 1954 and was set up in its current form in 1997.
During the first and second Five-Year Plans the state placed major plants here, among them Taiyuan Heavy Industry (太原重工) and the Xishan Mining Bureau (西山矿务局). Taiyuan Heavy Industry began in October 1950 as the Taiyuan Heavy Machinery Plant, described as the first heavy machinery plant of the People's Republic.
What to see
Beyond the two big museums, which Chinese Wikipedia notes include China's only museum devoted to coal, the district has the Taiyuan Library and the Shanxi Geological Museum, and Yifen Park (漪汾公园) and Yumenhe Park (玉门河公园). Taiyuan University of Technology (太原理工大学) and Taiyuan University of Science and Technology (太原科技大学) both have campuses here.
Longquan Temple (龙泉寺), 9 km southwest of the city centre, faces east with Daguan Mountain (大关山) behind it and the Fen before it. The district government dates it to 710 and tells how Li Shimin (李世民) washed his warhorses in the spring below the hill, which gave the spring and the temple the name "Dragon Spring". Ringed by five ridges, it is nicknamed "little Wutai" (小五台). The district government also lists the Yuquanshan suburban forest park (玉泉山城郊森林公园) and the Wangfeng Yixiantian (王封一线天) scenic area.
Highlights
- Shanxi Museum 山西博物院: One of Shanxi's national first-grade museums.
- China Coal Museum 中国煤炭博物馆: National first-grade museum and China's only coal museum.
- Longquan Temple 龙泉寺: East-facing temple dated to 710, tied to a legend of Li Shimin's warhorses.
- Yuquanshan suburban forest park 玉泉山城郊森林公园: Suburban forest park the district government lists among its green spaces.
Sources for this guide
万柏林区情简介 - 太原市万柏林区政府门户网站 · Wanbailin District People's Government, Taiyuan
龙城名刹—龙泉古寺 - 太原市万柏林区政府门户网站 · Wanbailin District People's Government, Taiyuan
万柏林区 - 维基百科 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-26.
Explore Wanbailin District
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Wanbailin District
Shanxi Museum main building and forecourt, Taiyuan · 太原山西博物院主馆与前庭 Photograph date recorded by the source: 19 July 2011, 09:56:39.Shanxi Museum山西博物院
Shanxi Museum is a useful starting point for understanding why the province's tombs, temples and merchant houses contain such different kinds of art. The Jin Soul displays connect archaeology with later religious and commercial…
Read the place guide →
Exterior entrance and signage of the Coal Museum of China in Taiyuan · 太原中国煤炭博物馆外观及门前标识 Source-recorded photograph date: 2014-06-22 17:26:09.China Coal Museum中国煤炭博物馆
China's national coal museum in Taiyuan, opened in 1989, with a 4D coal-forest theatre and a 3,200 m² underground simulated mine.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Wanbailin District covers the centre of Taiyuan. Search for 万柏林区 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Shanxi Museum and China Coal Museum are both listed here. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Taiyuan →More in Taiyuan
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Some facts checked against 万柏林区 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Shanxi Museum · Roland Longbow · Roland Longbow — Shanxi_Museum_20110719.jpg — CC BY-SA 3.0 · CC BY-SA 3.0. The exact downloaded source bytes are separately retained and hashed. Prepared JPEG is proportionally reduced to a maximum 720-pixel long edge; full frame retained, no subject alteration. Final website rendition: full frame retained, proportionally resized to at most 720 pixels and converted to WebP. No additional retouching or subject alteration. Card displays may crop the view.
Photo: China Coal Museum · DukeAnt · CC BY-SA 3.0. Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.