Ruicheng

Ruicheng is a county at the southernmost tip of Shanxi in Yuncheng prefecture, set on the north bank of the Yellow River where Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan meet. It is world-famous for Yongle Palace, one of Daoism's three great ancestral temples, whose vast Yuan-dynasty murals are among the finest surviving Chinese wall paintings. Nearby Guangren Temple preserves a rare Tang-dynasty timber hall, one of the oldest wooden buildings in China. The local economy rests on apple orchards, wheat and other agriculture in the fertile Yellow River valley, supplemented by cultural tourism. Its warm-temperate climate brings hot summers and cold, dry winters. For a visitor, Ruicheng offers extraordinary ancient art and river-valley scenery at a relaxed, low-cost pace.

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