平遥古城英语介绍

Collection of historical items
Seat of the County Government

The seat of the county government faces south and is over 200 meters long and over 100 meters wide with an area of over 20,000 square meters. Although Pingyao has been the seat of the county government since the Qin Dynasty, the complex was built in 1346 (Yuan Dynasty). Except for one remaining Yuan Dynasty building, the existing buildings were built in the Ming Dynasty.
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NorthGate
City wall
North Gate
Fake cannons
Pingyao City Wall

The tortoise is a symbol of eternity. Seventy-two watch towers were built every fifty to one hundred meters along the top. Two-meter high walls were built along the outside of the wall’s top, with 3,000 crenelations with openings for shooting. These represent the 72 disciples and more than 3,000 students of Confucius. Each corner formerly had a grand tower, but only the Great Scholar Tower in the southeast remains, along with one roll-call platform. A temple used to occupy the large platform on the eastern wall.
Residences
Cave-style residential room
Courtyard
Clerks at work
Rishengchang (Sunrise Prosperity)

The first draft bank of China, Rishengchang, is situated in the busiest section of Xi Da Jie, which used to be the First Street in the Qing Dynasty. The original site of Rishengchang occupied 2,324 square meters. The land used is arranged in a compact layout of buildings with definite functions. Although it was only a small compound, it was a forerunner of modern banking and once manipulated the economic lifelines of the whole Qing Dynasty in the 19th century
Rishengchang
Courtyard
Draft Banks Of Shanxi Merchants
During the hundred years that draft banking lasted in China, Pingyao became the hub as other local merchants opened similar banks. Branch banks were soon set up in major cities in China and in Asia, leading to great prosperity in Pingyao, wit h its subsequent economic, cultural and societal development. Courtyards became more ornate, streets, shops and stores were developed, enlarged or improved, and its products, such as lacquer ware and clay sculptures, became well known.
Carved Gate
Museum of Ancient Residences
Unique traditional residences
The ancient residences not only reflect the level of ancient architecture and the fashion of residences of the time, but they also demonstrate ancient policies, economies, philosophies, ethics, art and customs. These old houses and ruined walls show people how the local people lived in years past.
Instruments of torture of the County Government
Unique traditional residences

In Pingyao Ancient City are many traditional residences and commercial courtyards, 3797 of which are protected and more than 400 of which are intact. These traditional residences are the carriers of history culture, which are valuable for studying its history, folk customs, architecture, and art, and still serve as homes of local people. They become the architectural cultural heritage, which are protected and utilized today.
Gate to the Seat
The Second Hall
The Main Courtroom
The Magistrate's Desk in the Civil Courtroom
Instruments of torture of the County Government
The Civil Courtroom
The Ancient City of Pingyao
Pingyao City Wall

The wall is ten meters high, 6163 meters around, and three to five meters wide at the top. While the west, north and east walls are straight, the southern one curves, forming a rough square. The northern and southern walls have one gate each, the eastern and western walls, two each. Each gate has a barbican entrance with an inner and an outer door and had a tower above it, three of which have been rebuilt. Each gate used to have a drawbridge to cross the moat, which today is outside three sides of the city and is more than 3.3 meters deep and 3.3 meters wide.
City wall
City wall inside
Draft Banks Of Shanxi Merchants
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, merchants organized commercial groups that engaged in business nationwide, with Shanxi Province having some of the most important ones and Pingyao as the center. The Xiyucheng dye store on Xi Da Jie dealt in remittance and in 1824 became the first draft bank in China, dealing in bank drafts rather than in silver or gold money. Known as Rishengchang (Sunrise Prosper ity) , it was the cornerstone of modern Chinese banking.