Pingyao Ancient City

The construction of Pinyao City named Ancient Tao then started very early as the feod of Emperor Yao. The ancient city wall was made of earth at first starting in the period of King Xuan, Western Zhong dynasty (827 BC ~782 BC). The present Ancient City was built in the year of Hongwu 3nd (1370 AD), Ming Dynasty . Though it had been repaired in Ming and Qing dynasty, it has kept the original look of the early Ming dynasty. The whole city takes a quadrate shape with walls of 12 meters high. The city walls were built by laying rocky bricks and have a moat of 4 meters deep and 4 meters wide surrounding them to strengthen the defense of the city.

It is called "The Museum of the Chinese Ancient Architecture," because approximately 70% of the Shanxi Province architecture, constructed prior to the Tang and Song periods remains there.Many of the streets, markets and shops resemble their prototypes in the Ming Period are also existence. Wenmiao, a monument, where Confucius is enshrined (now used as a junior high school building), was reconstructed in the Qin Period (1163), showing the architectural style of the Zhou and Qin Period. While the initial construction of Qingxuguan, a Taoist temple, traces back to the Tang period (660), the reconstructions took place in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Periods. Furthermore, the houses of the Siheyuan style remain,(the living quarters on the four sides of the courtyard) and the financial institution 'Shanxi Piaohao' said to have been established here in Shanxi, has also been preserved.

The Pingyao Ancient City is one of the four ancient cities well preserved in China and it was evaluated as the most outstanding heritage in the world by UNESCO in December 3 rd, 1997. The heritage council of UNESCO reported that the Pingyao Ancient City was a masterpiece of the city architecture done by the Chinese Han nationality. The city has kept all the ethical characters and has displayed an unusual complete picture in the development of the histories of culture, society, economy and religion in China. We are very proud to recommend this city to you and look forward to your contact for visiting this beautiful place.


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