The Origin of Shanxi Business –Ancient City of Pingyao

The city of Pingyao located in the middle part of Shanxi Province, China is an ancient city with a history of over 2700 years. UNESCO describes it as an “ outstanding city model fo the Han nationality in the Mng (1368-1644) and (1644-1911) dynasty” and listed it as a World Cultural Heritage Site in the year of 1997.

Firstly built as early as 827 B.C. to 782 B.C., the city walls, streets, dwelling houses, shops and temples have been well-protected. Besides, many traditions are still preserved in the daily life of people living in Pingyao. The city we see today was rebuilt in 1370 on the basis of the old one.

The design of the ancient city is strictly according to China’s traditional archaeological thoughts. The wall circling the city is one of three treasures of Pingyao. Made of black bricks, the city wall has stood against rains and storms for over 600 years and been well preserved. The circuit of walls measures 6 km in length with 3,000 battlements and 72 massive bastions, presenting Confucius’s 3000 disciples and 72 sages. In the late Qing Dynasty, a Kuixing Pavilion was built in the southeast of the city to keep flourishing literature here, which showed how geat the Confucianism influence was.

Moreover, the city wall has six city gates and from above the city resembles a turtle with the southern gate as the head, the northern gate as the tail, the four gates in the west and east as the four legs and the four major streets, eight small streets and 72 lanes as designs on the back of the turtle. In ancient China, a turtle was the symbol of longevity and peace.

Pingyao enjoys the distinction of its folk residence. The private houses are built round four sides of an open courtyard, in black bricks and gray tiles, symmetrical and rectilinear. The cave dwelling put up with bricks are in particular of strong flavor of rural life. Now, the city possesses 3,797 courtyard dwellings, in which more than 400 are preserved to an exceptional extent.

The ancient city of Pingyao is known as “ a gallery and treasure houses of Chinese ancient architectures” since there are many precious historic and cultural sites such as the other two treasures of Pingyao, the Zhenguo Temple and the Shuangliing Temple.

The Zhengguo Temple with a history of more than 1,000 years is located to the northeast of the city. It is famous for its building technique and the color-painted sculptures of the Five Dynasties, In terms of its building technique the most representational is the Ten-Thousand-Buddha Hall, which is one fo the three oldest timberworks in mainland China.

The Shuanglin Temple to the southwest of the city is 400 years older than Zhengguo Temple. It is considered as the “ ancient painted scuplures meseum”. The temple house more than 2,000 colorful sculptures reflecting the exquisite skills of the artisans of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Besides the long history and those valuable architectures, Pingyao is also famous as the financial center of China in the late Qing Dynasty. The first bank in Chinam “Ri Sheng Chang”, was founded by Shangxi merchants. At the zenith in the late Qing Dynasty, there were as many as 22 draft banks in Pingyao, with more than 400 branches countrywide. The main street of the city, currently a 440-meter-long street in the Ming and Qing styles, had been called the Wall Street of Asia in the 19^th century.

The attraction of Pingyao is the city  itself, Much of the central part of town is free of vehicles and makes for a pleasant walk checking out the wares available for purchase, from the odd baked good to pieces of jade to silk purses. All in the Pingyao is a relaxed pretty little town. It’s definitely recommended to come here, live in the hostel built in 1591 and feel the peaceful atmosphere of a real ancient city.