Taiyuan City | Twin Pagodas

Taiyuan City

Although its residents never tire of pointing out that Taiyuan is 2500 years old very little of the old city remains. Taiyuan is now a gritty industrial hub centered around coal mining and other heavy industry. One oasis of tranquility amidst the skyscrapers, immense blocks of apartment buildings, and huge billboards touting not socialist slogans but women’s undergarments is the Shuangta Si, or Twin Pagodas Temple Complex. This consists of two 160 foot high, 13 story pagodas, several temples, and nicely manicured gardens. The complex was built in the years 1699-1716 by a monk named Fu Deng.

Twin Pagodas

Twin Pagodas

13 story, 160 foot high pagoda

The main temple. The first floor is devoted to the Past, Present, and Future Buddhas, the second to Guan Yin,

Dipamkara, The Past Buddha

Sakyamuni, The Present Buddha

Maitreya, The Future Buddha

Guan Yin, The Goddess of Compassion, a female form of Chenresig

Guan Yin, holding a willow branch, symbol of her resilence in the face of difficulty.

Guan Yin, depicted here as the Childbearer, with her two attendants, Shen Cai, a young man, and Long Nu, a young woman.