Shílóu

Shílóu stands in the high country of western Shanxi, on the western flank of the Lüliang mountains above the Yellow River, and takes its name from the Stone Tower Mountain to the east, where piled rock resembles a tower. The Sui gave the county this name in 598. Burials and bronzes found here show that people lived in the district as early as the Shang period. At Xingdongyuan village the Dongyue Temple keeps a main hall of the Jin dynasty with Ming murals, repaired in 1338 and again in 1641. In the hills nearby stands a temple to Houtu, the earth mother, with halls built in the Ming and Qing.