Day 1:
Upon your arrival at Pingyao, our local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. The tour today will include the Ancient City Wall, Rishengchang Exchange Shop and Ming and Qing Street. You will have some free time to explore this old city.
- Pingyao: a small city with 2700 years old history, famous for its well preserved ancient city walls and streets. As it borders on the southern edge of the TaiyuanBasin and joins the Loess Plateau to the south along the banks of the Yellow River, it has been an important communication hub and a famous commercial center over the country in the old days.
- The Ancient City Wall: first erected in the Zhou dynasty (827-728 BC) and last rebuilt in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644 AD), it is one of the best-preserved ancient city walls in China. With 12 meters high and 5 meters thick, a total length of 6.4 kilometers long, with 3,000 crenels and 72 watchtowers on the wall surrounded by moats, this stoic city wall played an important role in protecting Pingyao from invasions from 14th to 19th century, allowing the city to prosper swiftly.
Ming and Qing Street in Pingyao
- Rishengchang Exchange Shop: Rishengchang means “sunrise prosperity,” this shop is China’s first bank and was originally established in 1823. Now converted into a museum, there are 21 buildings surrounding three courtyards. On either side of the front yard are the counters, main banking activities were carried out in the middle courtyard house, which functioned as an exchange center.
- Ming and Qing Street: also called Nanda Jie, the main downtown thoroughfare well preserved in Ming and Qing style, it is one of the best places to explore ancient Chinese culture, where you can see hotels offering traditional brick-oven beds, restaurants serving Pingyao's famous beef and shops selling a dazzling array of art wares. This bustling bazaar was the commercial centre during the dynastic periods with over 700 stores and shops, most of these time-honored stores continue to thrive to today.
Day 2:
Today, you will visit Qiao Family's Compound, ShuanglinTemple before your transfer to the railway station for your train to your next destination.
Qiao Family's Compound
- Qiao Family's Compound: located 20 kilometers north of Pingyao, built in 1756 during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), this well-preserved and exquisite structure used to be the residence of a powerful trading family with significant commercial influence even
