Linfen sits in the Fen River valley of southern Shanxi, a broad agricultural basin that Chinese archaeologists have long argued was the heartland of early Chinese civilisation. The legendary sage-emperor Yao is traditionally said to have established his capital here — the Yaodu district name still preserves the connection — and archaeological digs in the surrounding loess have turned up Neolithic and early Bronze Age settlements that support the claim. The modern city is an unremarkable industrial centre built around coal and power generation, but the surrounding area contains an unusual concentration of historical sites.
The Guangsheng Lower Temple, about 40 km northeast of the city at the foot of Huoyun Mountain, is the main reason to linger. It is a series of Yuan- and Ming-dynasty halls decorated with wall paintings, including a famous painted portrait of a theatrical performance thought to be one of the earliest visual records of Chinese opera. The Upper Temple contains the Feihong Pagoda, a 13-storey glazed-tile tower built in 1515 and covered in coloured ceramic figures and ornamental tile-work — the largest and best-preserved glazed pagoda in China, its surface shimmering in greens and yellows from a distance. The Yao Temple south of the city commemorates the legendary emperor with an enormous complex of Ming halls spreading across five hectares.
The most dramatic sight in the broader Linfen area is the Hukou Waterfall, 150 km to the west where the Yellow River crashes through a narrow gorge — it has its own entry. The town of Hongtong to the northeast holds the Dahuaishu Immigration Memorial and the Stork Tower. For the city itself, a half-day spent at Guangsheng Temple and the Feihong Pagoda is sufficient before heading on toward Yuncheng or west toward Hukou.