SHAN-SI, slain's& (Chin., mountain, or mountains, west). An inland province of China, originally bounded on the north by the Great Wall, but now including that portion of Southern Mongolia which lies south of the In o• Yin Moun tains (Map: China, D 4). Its greatest length is from north to south. Area, 56,26S square miles. The province is mountainous, especially in its northern half, with ranges (sonic of them of great height) having a general southwest to northeast trend, forming seven great basins, the more northerly of which drain toward the plain of Peking, some to the east and southeast to the Great Plain, and the others southwest to the Iloang-ho. These basins vary in height above sea-level from 4500 to 5000 feet in the north to about 1200 toward the southeast.
The highest mountain peaks are found in the Tai-ho range (8000 feet) in the south-central part of the province, and the sacred Wu-tai Mountains (10.000 to 12,000 feet) farther north, about latitude 30° and near the border of Chihli, noted for their wild grandeur, and for the 360 great Buddhist temples which crown their peaks or nestle in their recesses and which are annually visited by tens of thousands of pilgrims.
Shansi is rich in minerals. Coal, both bitu minous and anthracite and of the finest quality, is found everywhere; iron of the hest quality, usually associated with coal, abounds, and is worked; copper has been found in over one hundred localities; tin near .1\ !omit Ni and where: and silver north of Tai-yuen, the capital. Salt lakes and springs are numerous. and near the great walled village of Lu-tsun. in the south west, are extensive salt works, the oldest in the Chinese Empire, dating back nearly 5000 years.
A notable feature of the province is the exceed ingly fertile loess, or 'terrace deposit.' varying in thickness from one foot to a thousand feet, and cut up in many places by the rains and into an intricate network of deep gullies which render travel impossible except along well-traced tracks. The agricultural belt is comparatively
small, and the soil does not produce sufficient for home consumption. Hence, while large quanti ties of coal, iron, and salt are exported, opium, wheat, rice, and other foodstuffs have to be im ported as well as cotton and cotton cloth. To bacco is grown in the south; in the southwest between Kiai-ehow and Tung-kwan the country is a continuous orchard, producing apples, pears, plums, persimmons, jujubes, etc.. and in the plain of Tai-yuen-fu (the capital), besides other fruits. the best grapes in China are raised. Shan-si is a wealthy province. The houses are substantially built of brick, frequently two to three stories high, and in a style of architecture different from that found elsewhere in the country. In the loess region the majority of the people live in caves, sometimes two or more stories high, cut into the deposit and faced with brick, with well-built stairs leading to the upper stories. The inhabit ants as a rule are civil and friendly to foreigners, are characterized by an enterprising commercial spirit, and the Shansi men arc well known as the bankers and pawnbrokers of the Empire. Population, about 13,000,000.
The great highway of the province runs from southwest to northeast, connecting the fortress of Tung-kwan at the point where the provinces of Shensi, Shansi, and llo-nan come together, with Kalgan (q.v.), a branch running northeast from Tai-yuen-fu to Ching-ting-fu, Pao-ting, Pe king, etc., and another from Ta-tnng, about latitude 40° N., northwest to Kwei-hwa Ch'ing and west Mongolia. Railway extension will be along these lines.
SHAN (shlin) STATES. A name applied to a number of semi-independent States in South eastern Asia, occupying the region between Bur ma, China, Siam, and Tongking (Map: Burma, C 2). They derive their name from their in habitants, the Shuns (q.v.).