Pingyao Ancient City in China
Saturday, 27 November 2021 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: Asia / Asien Category/Kategorie: General , UNESCO World Heritage
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Rih Sheng Chang Bank © Peellden/cc-by-3.0
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Pingyao, officially
Pingyao Ancient City , is a settlement in central
Shanxi ,
China , famed for its importance in
Chinese economic history and for its well-preserved
Ming and
Qing urban planning and
architecture . Administratively, it comprises the
town of Gutao in
Pingyao County in
Jinzhong Prefecture . It has a population of about 50,000.
The town is first recorded circa 800 BC and has been the seat of local government since at least the Qin . By the 16th century, it was a regional financial hub; some consider it to have been the financial centre of the Qing Empire in the late 19th century. It is a AAAAA-rated tourist attraction , and the settlement and the outlying Zhenguo Temple and Shuanglin Temple became a World Heritage Site in 1997.
Hall of Great Acomplishement in the Confucious Temple © Gisling/cc-by-3.0
There was already a settlement in place at Pingyao by the reign of the
Xuan King (r. c. 827 – c. 782 BC), when the
Zhou raised earthen
ramparts around the site. In the
Spring and Autumn period , the county belonged to the kingdom of
Jin . It was part of the kingdom of
Zhao in the
Warring States period . Under the
Qin , it was known as Pingtao. During the
Han Dynasty , it was known as the seat of Zhongdu County.
Pingyao served as the
financial center of the region from the 16th century and of the entire
Qing Empire during the late 19th century. During those times, there were more than 20 financial institutions within the city, comprising more than half of the total in the whole country.
Rishengchang was the first and largest, controlling almost half of China’s
silver trade under the late Qing before going bankrupt in 1914 in the aftermath of the
Xinhai Revolution .
Organized restorations have been undertaken periodically since the 15th century, the most recent phase beginning in 1979. In 1986,
China designated Pingyao as one of the Chinese Historical and Cultural Cities. In 2004, part of the southern walls collapsed; they have since been reconstructed. In 2015, Pingyao ancient city became a national 5A-class tourist attraction.
Read more on
TheChinaGuide.com – Pingyao Travel Guide ,
TheChinaGuide.com – Pingyao Ancient City ,
Wikivoyage Pingyao and
Wikipedia Pingyao (
Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State -
Weather report by weather.com -
Global Passport Power Rank -
Travel Risk Map -
Democracy Index -
GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank -
Global Competitiveness Report -
Corruption Perceptions Index -
Press Freedom Index -
World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index -
UN Human Development Index -
Global Peace Index -
Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index ). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at
comment@wingsch.net . Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.
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