The past is alive in Pingyao. Whereas other cities have embraced modernity often at the expense of their historical heritage, Pingyao tenaciously holds onto its past.
As dawn breaks and the morning sun bathes Pingyao's gray city walls in warm tones, you find yourself flung back in time, as your eyes behold a Ming dynasty fortress in all its imposing glory. Watchtowers, cast iron cannons, intimidating wooden gates and sturdy walls render an impenetrable feel. And then the city wake up. Narrow alleys that coil around time-honored courtyard homes fill up with its 480,000 denizens. Shops open their doors to reveal modern cashier equipment perched on antique tabletops. Bustling about are bicycles, rickshaws and scooters. Here in Pingyao, modernity lives with centuries old relics.
The old walled city is an architectural treasure trove. Civic buildings, private homes and streets are well preserved in Ming and Qing styles. Few buildings rise above two stories. Several are adorned with splendid eave roofs, intricately latticed windows, hand-painted glass lanterns and ornate wood.
Pingyao Ancient City has four main streets, 8 roads and 72 lanes and alleys. The layout of the streets and lanes are like the eight diagrams on a mythological Chinese tortoise shell.
The shaped main streets are Dong Da Jie, Xi Da Jie, Nan Da Jie (also called Ming-Qing Street), Chenghuangmiao Jie and Yamen Jie. The most important buildings and elegant residences lined these streets, with many of them remaining today, along with numerous smaller buildings.
Such exquisite handiwork didn't come cheap, but then again, Pingyao was China's premier banking center during the two dynasties. Its wealthy residents were comprised of merchants and businessmen who set about constructing sprawling mansions as expertly as they built up their business and trade. Of the many banks in Pingyao, Rishengchang Exchange Shop is the most famous. Originally established in 1643, it still has records of its earliest days in business.
One reason for the city's prosperity was its location. It lay at the heart of Shanxi Province between the central plain and the northern desert. Han Chinese merchants occupying the central plains could communicate easily with the northern tribes and set up trade links with the rest of China.
The stoic city walls also did its part to shield Pingyao from marauding enemies from the 14th to 19th centuries, allowing the city to flourish swiftly. The walls were first erected in the Zhou dynasty and last rebuilt during the Ming. After the Song army set the earthen walls on fire in AD 960, the walls were covered with bricks.
The fortifications are sophisticated – the square perimeter is 12m high and 5m thick and there are platforms every 50m with 3,000 crenels on the outer wall, 72 watchtowers, and a water drainage system reinforced with bricks at the top. The wall is surrounded by moats 3m wide and deep and six suspension bridges once fronted each city gate. You can walk all the way around the walls in 2 hours.
The city is also known as Turtle City(guicheng ),The south and north gates represent a turtle's head and tail, and the four gates on the east and west represent gate are the eyes. A web of alleys links the main streets in such a way that even the layout of the town resembles the markings on a turtle shell.
Slipping into the city, you feel as if you're entering the movie set of an elaborate Chinese period drama production. Elegant Ming And Qing architecture line the quaint streets. Like in the good old days, there are no cars in Pingyao's winding alleys; pedestrians and bicycles crowd the lanes, and a rickshaw rider scurries past. You might want to hop on for fun, but going slow on foot can be a visually rewarding feast. The ancient abodes of the commoners are fascinating cultural relics. Most of the compounds are arranged in quadrangles (siheyuan ), where the houses are built around a square courtyard. There are 3,797 such residences, with over 400 in immaculate condition. They're in such pristine condition partly because of Shanxi's arid climate and also because they weren't destroyed by wars.
There are so many mansions, temples, museums, inns and shops – where do you start exploring? Chances are that you will put up at a hotel near Ming Qing Jie(mingqing jie )also known as Nan Da Jie, the main downtown thoroughfare, This street has undergone major restoration and its attractions now include hotels offering traditional brick-over beds(kang ), restaurants serving Pingyao's famous beef and shops hawking an astonishing array of art wares such as antiques, furniture, ancient coins, Chinese paintings,jadeware, lacquerware and traditional folk clothing. In the old days, over 700 shops peppered this same street and several remain exactly as they have for centuries. On this lively street ,just shouting to be climbed, is the 18.5m high Town Tower (shilou ) – the tallest structure in town. Don’t start your ascent without your camera: you'll want to catch the view of inundating tiled roofs of the entire city when you reach the top.
You can find many notable museums along Ming Qing Street. Tongxinggong Armed escort Company Museum(tongxinggongbiaoju )offers an eye-opening armed escorts in promoting commerce, The economic boom under the two dynasties meant a lot of cash moving from one area to the next. To thwart thieving hands, Pingyao’s ever-resourceful and pragmatic merchants left their cash cows in the professional hands of security escorts, Wang Zhenqing, a martial arts exponent, setup the first armed escort firm to provide this crucial service, which was instrumental to the speedy development of Chinese trade.
The Temple of the City God (chenghuangmiao )on Nan Da Jie hails from the Northern Song dynasty, visitors enter through a double-eave, triple-gate wooden archway. It has a theater hall, where one can catch operatic shows during the annual temple fair on May 27, with six large urns positioned to amplify the performer's voices.
On the eastern end of Xi Da Jie is Rishengchang(rishengchang piaohao ), meaning "Sunrise prosperity, "China's first bank, What started out as a single businessman's efforts to safely manage the accounts of his widely spread company, became a private hanking enterprise that caught on like wildfire - a similar phenomenon occurred in Europe at the end of the Middle ages. Now converted into a museum, the head office was on this same site during the Qing dynasty, There are 21 buildings surrounding three courtyards, On either side of the front yard are the counters, main banking activities were carried out in the middle courtyard house, which functioned as an exchange center.
Travel tips: Tourists to Pingyao can buy an all-inclusive ticket at the cost of 120 Yuan. This includes approximately 20 scenic spots of North City Gate, South City Gate, County Yamun, Rishengchang Exchange Shop, the Temple of the City God, and Military Arts House and others. A good variety of tourist attractions are to be seen by using this ticket beside the Ancient Ming-Qing Street, such as the Local Resident Houses, Baichuantong, Xietongqing, Changshengwei. The city is not very large but interesting spots are spread throughout, so you can easily travel in the city on foot that will enable you to view as many as possible.
Admission Fee:
CNY 120 (Ancient Pingyao City, this scenic spot is included)
s – where do you start exploring? Chances are that you will put up at a hotel near Ming Qing Jie(mingqing jie )also known as Nan Da Jie, the main downtown thoroughfare, This street has undergone major restoration and its attractions now include hotels offering traditional brick-over beds(kang ), restaurants serving Pingyao's famous beef and shops hawking an astonishing array of art wares such as antiques, furniture, ancient coins, Chinese paintings,jadeware, lacquerware and traditional folk clothing. In the old days, over 700 shops peppered this same street and several remain exactly as they have for centuries. On this lively street ,just shouting to be climbed, is the 18.5m high Town Tower (shilou ) – the tallest structure in town. Don’t start your ascent without your camera: you'll want to catch the view of inundating tiled roofs of the entire city when you reach the top.
