Overview:

The Ancient City of Pingyao is an ancient walled city in Shanxi Province, China. It was once the financial center of China and the world. It is one of the best preserved and most comprehensive ancient cities in China. The city was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997. Today, Pingyao is a popular tourist destination and is renowned for its picturesque Ming and Qing dynasty architecture. It boasts over 100 temples, including two of China’s Four Great Ancient Temples. Many important events of Chinese history took place in Pingyao including the founding and development of banks, a movement for democracy in the early 20th Century and the beginning of the industrialization of Chinese industry. It is one of the most beautiful monuments in China
Prominent Features:

1. City Wall: The city is surrounded by an intact city wall constructed during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), which is 8.6 meters (28 feet) high and 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) around, making it one of the most well-preserved ancient city walls in China. 2. Ming and Qing Dynasty Architecture: Within the old city walls, there are over 600 well-preserved courtyard residences and old buildings, including fan-shaped courtyards, folk-style dwellings, traditional Chinese-style commercial shops and major cultural places such as banks, post offices and parlors. 3. China’s First Bank: Besides, the iconic site in Pingyao's old city is the Rishengchang Bank, which is known as the first bank of China founded in 1823 and opened for business in 1859, witnessed a hundred years of fortunes and misfortunes of the country. 4. Confucian Temple: Ping Yao also has a Qu Kong Si, which is an ancient Confucian temple that was built in 1379. It was used to teach students about morals and Confucian belief in ancient days and is now one of the district's major tourist attractions. 5. Zhangbi Ancient Castle and Underground Military Smugglers' Passage: Other well-preserved ancient sites include the Zhangbi Ancient Castle, an underground military smugglers' passage and the ruins of the City of Kuizhou. You can learn history, culture, and heritage through these magnificent monuments in China.

History:

Pingyao Ancient City is located in the central of Shanxi province, in north-central China. The city is famous for its well-preserved ancient buildings, grand fortress walls and the unique Ming Qing-dynasty architecture, known as “Banner Stylings”. The history of Pingyao dates as far back as the Shang Dynasty (approx. 1700 to 1046 BC), when it served as a small county town. As China's political center moved from dynasty to dynasty over the centuries, Pingyao was often passed over and remained a small, independent county. This gave it the unique opportunity to remain uninfluenced by great changes of the dynasties, allowing it to conserve and develop its own local culture. From observation of the grand scale of the walls and layout of Pingyao, archeologists have determined that the city was believed to have been built in 1272 during the Yuan Dynasty era. It was during this Dynasty that Pingyao first emerged as an important trading post on the Silk Road. Using the imperial “hands-off” policy as a springboard, Pingyao’s economy grew for several centuries, and it eventually developed into a prosperous city. Its inhabitants founded many banks, such as the Shili Bank of Pingyao, which earned a reputation for its well-maintained integrity, existed as an autonomous rural county for over 500 years and served as the county seat of payments. In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Pingyao became the leading financial center of China. At its peak, more than 20 workshops and over 1,000 banks operated in this region including the world-renowned Rishengchang Exchange Bank. Pingyao’s rich history has earned it a place on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and its historical importance to China has only grown over time. Today, it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the region, known for its stunning historical architecture and traditional lifestyle. Visit one of the famous monuments of China with your friends and family.

Interesting facts:

1. Pingyao is one of the first extant cities in China to use town planning. Built around 689 CE, its ancient city walls form a rectangle 4.2-mile-long with perimeter walls settled at nearly 2 miles. 2. Pingyao was called ‘the Bank of China' during the Qing Dynasty because it was home to over one hundred financial institutions, the most renowned of which was the ‘Rishengchang Draft Bank.’ It was also the first successful modern bank established in China. 3. Pingyao still preserves the old city planning from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Over one thousand ancestral temples, temples, and residences as well as stores, inns, guild houses and numerous other sites of traditional Chinese culture can still be found in the city. 4. Pingyao was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997 for its well-preserved city walls, which encircle its entire 88-acre inner city. 5. In the past each city gate in Pingyao contained a unique structure that varies by design and construction. It could be a pavilion or a gate tower as well as a smaller-caliber cannon. There were originally six gates, but only four are still standing. 6. The "South Gate" is located in the most central of the four old city gates, and stands as the main entryway into the city. It is the best-preserved of all the four and is very impressive. One of the historical monuments of China, it tells the story of a bygone era