Pingyao Overview

As a county under administration of Jinzhong District of Shanxi Province, Pingyao is located in the southwest of Taiyuan as well as in the east of Fen River, which is 616 kilometers (383 miles) from Beijing City in the northeast, 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Taiyuan City in the north, 54 kilometers (34 miles) from Xi’an in the west and 2,390 kilometers  (1,485 miles) from Guangzhou in the south, covering a total area of 1,260 square kilometers (486 square miles) with Tongpu railway (from Datong railway to Puzhou railway) and Dayun (from Datong railway to Yuncheng Railway) railway running through it. Pingyao administers 5 towns and 9 villages, namely: Gutao, Duancun, Dongquan, Hongshan and Ningfu Town; Nanzheng, Zhongdu, Yuebi, Puyi, Mengshan, Zhukeng, Xiangyuan, Dujiazhuang and Xiangle Village, with the government institution of the Pingyao located in Gutao Town. Pingyao has a long history of more than 2,700 years with a total population of 490,000 people, and the Ancient City of Pingyao is considered as “One of the Best-Preserved Ancient Cities” together with the Ancient City of Lijiang in Yunnan Province, the Ancient City of Langzhong in Sichuan Province and the Ancient City of She County in Anhui Province.

The main features of Ping Yao
The ancient city of Pingyao is built according to the Chinese culture and architectural style with the historical appearance of the 14th-18th century.

Seen from above the city, the square wall of Pingyao is in the shape of a turtle with a perimeter of 6,163 meters (6,740 yards) long in total and 12 meters (39 feet) high, which divides Pingyao County into 2 different worlds: the streets and the architectures inside the wall are in the style of the Ming (1,368- A.D.-1,644 A.D.) and the Qing Dynasties (1,616 A.D.-1,911 A.D.); however, the ones outside the wall are rather modern; so the Ancient City of Pingyao is a combination of the ancient world and the modern world now. There are 6 gates in the ancient city with one in the south and north and two in the west and east respectively. In the south gate are two pavilions, which symbolize the eyes of “the turtle”. In the north is the lowest part of the city with the rain water of the whole city flowing from here.

As an ancient city with more than 2,700-year history, Ping Yao is rich in historical and cultural relics in the forms of the temples, the pagodas and the ancient walls as well as civilian residence, among which the famous attractions are as follows: the Ancient City of Pingyao, Zhen’guo Monastery, Dacheng Hall of Confucius Temple, Shuanglin Temple and Ri Sheng Chang Draft House.