This ancient county city in Shanxi, the entire city is a World Cultural Heritage site, attracting tourists daily!
The most valuable ancient county in Shanxi, the entire city is a World Cultural Heritage site, attracting tourists daily! This ancient county is Pingyao Ancient City. Pingyao Ancient City is also one of China's four best-preserved ancient cities, and every corner of it is full of historical atmosphere. Every street, every courtyard house, and every piece of artifact is unique and irreplaceable. Visiting here is like stepping into the embrace of a World Cultural Heritage site.
Pingyao Ancient City, together with (Lagonggucheng), Lijiang Ancient City, and Shizhou, is known as one of China's four ancient cities. Pingyao Piao Bao Rishengchang is the ancestor bank of modern China. Enjoy the original and authentic ancient city and feel the rich atmosphere of the Jin merchant culture. Pingyao Ancient City is an outstanding example of ancient Chinese cities in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The streets and shops within the city walls retain the style of the Ming and Qing dynasties; outside the city walls is called New City. It is a place where ancient and modern architecture blend together, shine brightly, and inspire contemplation.
Pingyao County Government Office (Pingyao Xian Guangba) is located in the center of the ancient city, built in the Northern Wei Dynasty, standardized in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. The earliest preserved buildings date back to the Yuan Zu Zheng Year Six (1346), with a history of six hundred years. The entire government office is built facing south and arranged symmetrically along the north-south axis, which is more than 200 meters long, and 100 meters wide, covering an area of more than 26,000 square meters.
Bird's-eye view of Pingyao Ancient City is astonishing. The square-shaped city wall is shaped like a turtle, with six gates, one north and one south, and two each on the east and west. The south gate of the city is zero, with two water wells outside the gate symbolizing the turtle's eyes. The north gate is the turtle's tail, the lowest point of the entire city, and all water in the city flows out through it.
The four corner watchtowers of the city are facing each other, and the north west gate, south west gate, north east gate and south east gate are all oriented south, like turtle claws stretching out. However, the south east corner watchtower opens directly east, which is said to be because when building the city, the builders thought a turtle would crawl away, so they pulled its left leg straight and tied it to the (Lucitai) twenty miles away. It's amazing!
