On a green carpet through time

A visit to Shanxi province takes you back through Chinese dynasties, and you will lap up the exquisite scenery along the way. Liu Zhihua, Paige Sheffield and Sun Ruisheng report in Shanxi.

One of the first things Chinese are apt to think of when talk turns to Shanxi is coal. That's because the province is full of the stuff, and for many a year its economic prosperity has been intricately intertwined with what comes out of the ground.

However, anyone thinking about visiting Shanxi should quickly disabuse themselves of the idea that what awaits them is kilometer after kilometer of bleak coal fields.