1. Clothing and Climate
Being at a high altitude, Shanxi Province has a cold and dry climate and has an annual rainfall of between 400-600 millimeters. The province is also frequently plagued by sandstorms, especially in the spring, so it is often useful to bring along both sunglasses and a hat when visiting. Generally speaking, the province's climate is the best between May and October.

Weather in Taiyuan, Shanxi’s provincial capital:

Culture:

Greeting:
Unlike the Japanese, Chinese do not commonly bow as a form of greeting. Instead, a brief handshake is usual.

Embracing or kissing when greeting or saying good-bye is highly unusual. Generally, Chinese do not show their emotions and feelings in public. Consequently, it is better not to behave in too carefree a manner in public.

Giving and Accepting Gifts
If you are invited to someone’s home, a gift would be appropriate.

Chinese do not usually accept a gift, invitation or favour when it is first presented. Politely refusing two or three times is thought to reflect modesty and humility. Accepting something in haste makes a person look aggressive and greedy, as does opening it in front of the giver.

Present your gifts with both hands. And when wrapping, be aware that the Chinese ascribe much importance to color. Red is lucky, pink and yellow represent happiness and prosperity; white, grey and black are funeral colors.

The popular items include cigarette lighters, stamps, T-shirt and exotic coins.

The following gifts should be avoided:

1.White or yellow flowers (especially chrysanthemums), which are used for funerals.
2.Pears. The word for Pear in Chinese sounds the same as separate and is considered bad luck.
3.Red ink for writing cards or letters. It symbolizes the end of a relationship.
4.Clocks of any kind. The word clock in Chinese sound like the expression the end of life.

Table Manners:
1. Don't stick your chopsticks upright in the rice bowl. Instead, lay them on your dish. The reason for this is that when somebody dies, the shrine to them contains a bowl of sand or rice with two sticks of incense stuck upright in it. So if you stick your chopsticks in the rice bowl, it looks like this shrine and is equivalent to wishing death upon person at the table!

2. Make sure the spout of the teapot is not facing anyone. The spout should always be directed to where nobody is sitting, usually just outward from the table.

3. Don't tap on your bowl with your chopsticks. Beggars tap on their bowls, so this is not polite.

4. If you are asked out to a restaurant, you will find that restaurant bills are not shared out between the guests but instead your hosts will go to great lengths to claim the honour of paying the whole bill by themselves. As a foreigner, you should make some effort to stake your claim, though it is probable that someone will else grab the bill from you. Attempting to pay a “share” of the bill may cause serious embarrassment.

3. Electricity

The current is 220V on the mainland. Plugs come in a wide range of two or three differently shaped prongs, so a travel conversion plug can be useful.   

4. Health

No vaccinations are required for China, but a hepatitis A jab is recommended. Hepatitis A is a viral infection spread by contaminated food and water, which causes an inflammation of the liver.

5. Language

The official language in China is Putonghua, the common Mandarin language used, though each province and even town or tribe will have its own dialect.

Most civil servants, custom officials, police, hotel staff and men in the street do not speak English or at best a smattering of English.

Do not expect hotels or shops to understand English. Only the very big hotels will have staff that will understand English.

Most young people can understand simple English if you speak slowly.

6. Money

Foreign Exchange

The unit of currency is known as Renmembi (RMB) or Yuan. Get some Chinese Yuan in your local country before travelling. When in China, exchange foreign currency for local currency in the banks or at the hotel. Banks tend to give slightly better rates than hotels. It is advisable to bring in US dollars to change in China.  

Payment facilities

Most better class hotels and shopping centres take Credit Card or Travellers cheques. Smaller hotels and shops take cash only. Once out of the bigger cities, credit card and ATM cards tend to be almost impossible to utilize. Counterfeit notes are common in China. Check carefully before accepting change, especially if it consists mostly 100RMB notes. You can feel a texture difference where counterfeit notes are concerned.

7. Religion

China is a multi-religious country, where Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity is practiced. Freedom of belief is a government policy, and normal religious activities are protected by the constitution.

8. Transportation

Railways

Shanxi's transportation relies highly on railways. The railway network connects Shijiazhuang（石家庄）and Taiyuan（太原）; Beijing and Yuanping（原平）; Beijing and Baotou（包頭）; Datong（大同）and Menyuan（門原）; Taiyuan and Jiaozuo（焦作）.  The province has completed seven double-track electric railways extending to coastal ports such as Qinghuandao, Qingdao, Yantai and Lianyungang.

In addition, the Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway（朔州－黃驊）has just opened to traffic.  The Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway, linking Shenchi county in Shanxi with Huanghua port in Hebei. It will be the second largest railway for coal transportation from west to east in China.

Roadways

With Taiyuan as the hub, the highways in Shanxi form a road network linking all the counties in the province.  Major highway, Dayun（大運公路: Datong-Yuncheng 大同－運城）, connects the cities in south and north of the province. The Taiyuan-Jiuguan Expressway（太原－舊關高速公路）, which joins the Beijing-Shijiazhuang expressway（北京－石家庄高速公路）and connects Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu expressway（京津唐高速公路）and Beijing-Shenzhen expressway（京深高速公路）, leads to Beijing and the region of Bohai Sea rim directly.
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Air Transport

Taiyuan Airport provides civil air service which connects Shanxi with more than 28 major domestic cities including Beijing, Xian, Chengdu and Chongqing.  International routes linking Shanxi include Hong Kong, Singapore, Russia and Japan.
A new airport has built in Datong City.  Datong has many tourist attractions including the world-famous Yungang Grottoes.  The airport will be able to accommodate Boeing-737s and expected to be completed by end-2001.

9. Entry Visa

China require entry visa from most countries. Apply at the Chinese consulate or through your travel agent before travelling to China. If you intend to travel to Hong Kong or Macau or surrounding countries and come back to China, be sure to obtain a double or multiple entry visa.

Applying for a Chinese visa in Hong Kong

You can apply for a standard one-month tourist visa at any of the numerous travel agencies or direct from the visa office at tge Lower Block, China Resources Building, 26 Harbour Road (trilingual info on 34132300).

For a 60- or 90-day multiple entry visa, issued in two days, visit CTS at 78-83 Connaught Rd or 27-33 Nathan Rd. Note that these visas are valid from the date of issue, not the date of entry.

10. Social Security

China is generally a safe country. However, hang on tight to your wallet especially in crowded, popular tourist sites in tourist cities such as Beijing and Xian.

These tourist cities also has a lot of touts in the streets touting tourist from currency exchange to jewelleries to female companionships. Avoid at all cost!

11. Peak Tourist Seasons

Chinese New Year: Date varies but generally late January or early February.

May Day: First two weeks of May

China National Day: Middle two weeks of October

Avoid travelling during these period. Book rooms and travel modes way early if need to travel.

12. Telecommunications

Mobile phone coverage in China is good in most locations. Global auto-roaming within China is not a problem.

13. Internet

There are cyber-cafes everywhere in China, especially in tourist areas. Most are patronised by young people playing online games but you still can check your Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail. Access may be a bit slow for international websites. These cafes tend to be smoky.

14. Washroom facilities

Things has improved very much but it may still be a good idea to empty your stomach or bladder at every opportunity in a hotel, restaurant or departmental store.

15. Nearby Attractions

Shanxi is endowed with an abundance of cultural sites from its long history.  Most of the ancient structures were built before the Liao and Song Dynasties.  It is this reason that Shanxi is often called the 'Chinese Ancient Architecture Museum'. 

The more obvious of these include: the Buddhist wonder of the Yungang Grottoes in Datong City, the ancient city of Pingyao which was listed as a World Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO in 1997, the oldest and tallest ancient wooden pagoda in China, the Wooden Pagoda of Yingxian County and the remote Shuanglin and Jinci Temples, which are well worth the long journeys for the visitors.

Of course, there are a number of natural magnificent and beautiful places that can also be seen in Shanxi.  The most famous of them include Wutai Mountain with the longest and most prestigious history in the four most well-known Buddhist holy lands of China, the whistling rage of the Yellow River's Kettle Spout waterfalls (Hukou Waterfalls) and one of the Five Sacred Mountains in China - Mt Hengshan.