First built in the reign of King Xuan (827 – 782 B.C.) of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Pingyao is a small town in central Shanxi Province. Up to now, the town is still well preserved the same as when it was the county seat of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
 “Ping Yao is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a traditional Han Chinese city, founded in the 14th century. Its urban fabric shows the evolution of architectural styles and town planning in Imperial China over five centuries. Of special interest are the imposing buildings associated with banking, for which Ping Yao was the major center for the whole of China in the 19th and early 20th centuries.” – UNESCO’s depiction on its website for this World Cultural Heritages site approved in 1997.
 The city wall stretches for about 6 kilometers. The town is protected by a city moat, both three meters in depth and width. Outside the city gate is a drawbridge. Within the city, four big streets and eight small streets radiate to join with 72 lanes. The 3,797 original quadrangle residential houses are all of the same black-colored bricks and gray-colored tiles. Out of the total, over 400 of these courtyard houses are still well preserved. There are also temples of varying size and old-fashioned stores.
Pingyao is regarded as the birthplace of modern banking system. Chinese banks were originally called “Piao Hao”. Richangsheng is the first “Piao Hao” offering financial services in town, and China. Therefore, it became the ancestor of all Chinese Banks. |
