External Transportation

Air

Taiyuan Wusu Airport lies in the southern suburb of Taiyuan and is about 18 kilometers from the downtown area of the city. The airport runs direct flights between Taiyuan and major cities across China, such as, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guilin, Nanjing, Shenyang and Xi’an. There is no fixed airport shuttle bus between downtown Taiyuan and the airport. The most convenient way to go to the airport from Taiyuan is to take a taxi, which takes about 30 minutes.

Railway

Taiyuan is the terminal of the Beijing-Yuanping Railway and the Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan Railway and the origin station for the Taiyuan-Jiaozuo Railway. It connects with a dozen middle and large size cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, Chengdu, and Baotou. More than 20 express trains pass through or stop in Taiyuan each day.

Taiyuan Railway Station lies at the end of Yingze Street and can be reached by No 1, No 5, No 21 and many other buses from the downtown area. The ticket office lies at the south of the Railway Station. Additionally, there are many train ticket pre-sales sites across the city and a ticket can be booked directly by telephone from these sites. (The service generally charged 5 yuan ($0.81) per ticket).

Highway

“Tai Jiu” expressway that connects Taiyuan with Jiuguan was the first expressway in Shanxi province. The railway starts from Wusu, goes through Yuci city, Shouyang County, Yangquan City and Pingding County and finally reaches Jiuguan, which lies on the border of Shanxi and Hebei. After departing from Jiuguan, it is connected with the expressway between Shijiazhuang and Beijing. Choosing this route, it takes only about five hours to go to Beijing from Taiyuan (you can also take the bus at Taiyuan Long-distance Bus Station at the east end of Yingze Street. The fare is 120 yuan per person. The terminal of the bus is Beijing Lizeqiao Long-distance Bus Station).

Taiyuan and Yuanping are connected by an expressway (Yuan Tai Expressway), which provides convenience for people traveling between Taiyuan and Wutai Mountain. At the long-distance bus station on Yingze Street, there is a tourism bus bound for such destinations as Wutai Mountain (the fare is 43 yuan per person), Hunyuan Hanging Temple and Yingxian Wooden Tower. Outside the Power Plaza, there is a Volvo bus directly bound for Datong. It takes about five hours and the fare is 70 yuan per person (which includes a snack). There are also expressways between Taiyuan and Gujiao, Taiyuan and Wenshui. At Taiyuan Long-distance Bus Station, there are buses going to Pingyao. It takes about two hours to reach the ancient town and the fare is around 10 yuan per person.

Internal Transportation

Bus

The roads in Taiyuan are broad and the traffic smooth. It is easy to travel to different tourist sites. At the square of the Railway Station, you can take No 308 or No 804 bus to Jinci. The fare is 1yuan and 2 yuan, respectively (No.308 takes the old road and No. 804 the new one). The last bus is scheduled at 7：30pm. The fare is 2 yuan per person.

Taxi

Small cars previously seen everywhere in Taiyuan have now basically disappeared. They have been replaced by taxis whose starting price is 7 yuan for the initial three kilometers with 1 yuan per kilometer added after that. At nighttime, the starting price is 7.8 yuan (three kilometers) with 1.2 yuan added for every kilometer exceeding three. The taxis in Taiyuan are mainly served by Xiali, Citroen and Jetta. There are also some Santanas and Red Flags, but there is no difference in the price of different types of taxis.