Just Go: Linfen, Shanxi

In Linfen, the deepest impression is the culture of roots and family. There are the rituals of seeking roots and worshipping ancestors at the Great Pagoda Tree, with sayings like "Travel all over the world, Hongtong is home", "Use the warmth of home to welcome your return", and "All journeys are departures, coming to Linfen is returning home"; there is the reverence and commemoration for the Chinese ancestor Emperor Yao, such as the Yao Temple, Huabiao, and Huamen, known as "the land of the root ancestors, the old home of the Chinese people". 1. Great Pagoda Tree Ancestral Worship Park The only national ancestral worship site themed on "seeking roots" and "worshipping ancestors", located in Hongtong County, a national 5A-level scenic spot, and a key cultural relic protection unit of Shanxi Province. From the second year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty to the fifteenth year of Yongle, over nearly 50 years, the Great Pagoda Tree experienced 18 official migrations, mainly to 18 provinces including Beijing, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Anhui, and Jiangsu, and nearly 500 counties and cities. After 600 years of relocation and migration, the descendants have thrived, and today, wherever there are Chinese people around the world, there are descendants of the Great Pagoda Tree immigrants. The reason why the Hongtong Great Pagoda Tree is so named is that the immigrants at that time all gathered under the Great Pagoda Tree and were then sent to various places in groups. Many descendants of the immigrants consider themselves "people from under the Great Pagoda Tree" and have special feelings for the Hongtong Great Pagoda Tree, treating it as home, calling it ancestor, and recognizing it as their root. 2. Yao Temple Founded during the Jin Dynasty, located on the west bank of the Fen River, it was moved to its current location in the third year of Xianqing of the Tang Dynasty (685 AD) and has been for over 1300 years. It has always been a national sacrificial site and has undergone many renovations and expansions. Emperor Kangxi, Guangxu, and Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty have visited here. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, the name of China began with Yao, who was the earliest to designate the nine provinces and unify the Chinese nation. 3. Yaodu Huabiao Praised as "China's First Huabiao", it is 21 meters high, symbolizing the 21st century, with the body of the column coiled with the Chinese century dragon, and a roaring beast sitting on the top, with the base carved with the Great Wall and the Hukou Waterfall of the Yellow River. 4. Huamen The total height of China's Huamen is 50 meters, with a length of 80 meters and a width of 40 meters, covering an area of more than 22,000 square meters, also known as the Gate of Chinese Civilization, symbolizing the door of civilization opened by Emperor Yao. It is the world's tallest gate building and China's first monument to Chinese civilization There are many more fun places