Taiyuan is a prefecture-level city and capital of Shanxi province, China. The city has an elevation of about 800 meters.Taiyuan is one of the great industrial cities of China and lies on the Fen River in the north of its fertile upper basin. It commands the north-south route through Shanxi, as well as important natural lines of communication through the mountains to Hebei province in the east and - via Fenyang - to northern Shaanxi province in the west.