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 The
ancient city is in Pingyao County, Shanxi Province.
The city wall was first built during the Zhou Dynasty
(11th century - 256 B.C.) and was expanded in 1370,
the third year of the reign of Ming Emperor Hongwu.
Since 1997, it has been listed as a World Heritage Site.
Now Pingyao city is the only one in China completely
reserved as it was hundreds of years ago, no modern
buildings, only narrow stone-plate street with many
Chinese-style shops on the two sides.
The perimeter of this square city is 6.4km long and
the city wall is the earliest and largest intact city
wall in China. It is 12m high with an average width
of 5m. The wall is rammed earth strengthened with a
covering of bricks. Outside the city wall there is a
moat, 4m wide and 4m deep.
The city has six gates, two each on the east and west
and one each in the south and north side. All the gates
project outwards and have two doors each. This has given
the city the name "Turtle City" with the two
gates on the south and north representing the head and
tail of the turtle and four gates on the east and west
as the four legs. The doors on the south and north stand
opposite each other, like the head of the turtle extending
out and two wells just beyond southern gate are like
a turtle's two eyes.
Located on the trade route between Beijing and Xi'an,
Pingyao developed into a merchant center where enterprising
locals set up the nation's earliest banks. These institutions
were the first in China to use checks, and business
peaked in the 19th Century, when the city was the undisputed
financial center of the Qing government.
Several old courtyards have been turned into museums,
most notably the homes and offices of Pingyao's old tongs,
or banks. One of the most remarkable aspects of a visit
here is realizing that this remote place was immensely
important to China's financial history.
 Rishengchang
and the Baichuan Tong, two of the most powerful banks
in the old days, are now small museums that have been
restored tastefully. The same can be said of the Yuanmiancheng
Minfeng Hotel, where modern beds are replaced with old
kang, or traditional coal-heated brick bed. The hotel's
gray-brick courtyards and rooms haven't been over-restored
(and there is the additional if slightly strange convenience
of having an upstairs museum dedicated to an exhibit
of drawings and photos that document the history of
"three-inch golden lilies," or bound feet).
The hotel, constructed about 500 years ago, actually
is same old as others in the city, and thus is not so
distinguished on the old street.
Most of Pingyao local people originated from a business
family, because Shanxi and thus Pingyao has a long tradition
and history in business. Shanxi Business People (Jin
Shang) were quite famous in Ming and Qing dynasties.
"Before my grandfather, we were quite wealthy.
But everything changed after the revolution, and of
course private business wasn't allowed for many years.
But then it changed and now I'm doing business, just
like my ancestors used to."
Despite such connections, that crucial four-decade gap
was enough to shake up families like Ms. Liu's, and,
in turn, the entire town. Ms. Liu had no idea where
her original ancestral home was, just as she couldn't
tell me anything about the family that constructed the
building that now houses her shop. She was, however,
careful to emphasize that modernization had plenty of
benefits.
"This used to be a dirt road," she said,
pointing at the cobbled street in front of us. "This
whole area used to be very backwards, and many parts
of it still are. For example, there are still big problems
with sewage, even though since 1992 we've been trying
to shift to a modern system."
She was right, of course -- such considerations are
impossible to ignore in a place where half of the residents
still have no running water, and where 65 per cent of
the roads are unpaved. After two days in Pingyao, I
found that it was hard to say exactly where the city
was going: in five years it could be an over-touristed
example of bad restoration, or it could be a model for
preservation in China. In either case, a visit to the
city provides a glimpse of both old China and the difficulties
that today's country faces as it tries to balance development
and protection, money and relics. In the end I left
Pingyao simply hoping for the best: that Ms. Liu enjoys
good business, and that Mr. Wang's snooker table pulls
in some cash, and that somehow his old carvings keep
their place on the roof where they've hung since Qing
days. Or maybe it was the Ming.
This has been the story in Pingyao, a small and isolated
city that is home to some of the best preserved traditional
architecture in all of China. For decades, Pingyao's
relics were essentially protected by default, because
citizens lacked the funds necessary to modernize their
city. Today, as Chinese tourism rapidly develops, Pingyao
residents are recognizing the unique value of their
hometown, where the trick is to cash in on this resource
without destroying it.
Attractions
in Pingyao
Neighboring Area: Hebei,
Henan, and Shaanxi provinces; Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region
Population: 480,000
Area: 1253 sq km
Climatic Feature: Temperate,
continental, monsoonal climate; long and cold winters
and mild summers
Average Temperature: -16 - -2 C
in January while 19-28C
in July
Rainfall: Most yearly rainfalls in summer
Rivers: Fen River
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