Pingyao is city in Shanxi province of China. It is renowned for its well-preserved ancient city wall. Many people may not know it very well. However, it is a very important city for knowing the ancient Chinese history and architecture. So, if you are keen on Chinese history and culture, you shall not miss Pingyao which presents you a real picture of ancient China. If you are on Beijing Tours, you can consider taking one of Beijing Flights to Pingyao. This article will introduce some main attractions in Pingyao for your reference.
1. The City Wall of Pingyao
The City Wall is one of the three treasures of Pingyao. Established in Ming Dynasty (1370), the City Wall is the earliest and largest wall in Shanxi with a length of 6.4 kilometers. It maintains its structure of Ming Dynasty after being renovated many times. The wall is rectangular with a height of 12 meters. There are altogether 6 city gates, two on west and east walls respectively and one on north and south walls respectively. On west and east sides stand some bulwarks. The whole wall has 3000 battlements and 72 watchtowers, the former is said to represent 3000 disciples of Confucius and the later 72 people of great wisdom. It is said that the street, shops and residences inside the wall still bear the traditional layout and style, while scenes outside the wall are more modern.
2. Zhengguo Temple
Zhengguo Temple is another treasure of Pingyao. Built in 963 in the
Northern Han Dynasty (951-979), it covers an area of 10892 square meters. It is significant not only for its religious contribution but also for its unique architecture. The temple is divided into two parts. The front part contains Tianwang Hall and Bell Tower and Drum Tower on its two sides, followed by Ten-thousand Buddha Hall. In the back part stand Guanyin Hall, Dizang Hall. The whole temple was built with wood. In fact, it belongs to the most ancient wood architecture of China. It differs from other architectures in that it was built by putting wooden blocks together without using any nail.
Shuanglin Temple is also a treasure of Pingyao. It is honored as the “Ancient Painted Sculptures Museum” as the temple has more than 2000 colorful sculptures from the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is also a Buddhism temple which includes various halls and gods. You can find gods with distinctive expressions and postures which can not be found in other temples.
4. Rishengchang
Rishengchang is the first bank of China. Covering an area of 1300 square
meters, it had been the central bank of China in its one hundred years’ operation. The shop has been reserved very well. So if you have a chance to visit it, you can have a glimpse of the operating mechanism of the first financial center. Because of its great contribution to Chinese trade, it has been honored as “Chinese Exchange Shop Museum”.
Pingyao’s attractions are more than the above mentioned ones. Other attractions such as the Ancient Ming-Qing Street, Qiao’s Compound and Temple of the City God are also very famous. If you want to learn more about Chinese ancient culture, you need to include Pingyao in your china travel schedule.
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