The ancient city of Pingyao in north China's Shanxi Province, which has retained the look and feel of ancient times, is an "outstanding city model of the Han nationality in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties", according to UNESCO.

For its well-preserved city wall and streets, stores, temples and residential housing built in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the city was listed as a World Cultural Heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1997.

"It shows a lively picture of the cultural, social, economic and religious life of the Han people about 600 to 100 years ago," said the report.

Located in the central part of Shanxi, the city has a history of over 4,000 years. It is said that Yao, a legendary monarch in ancient China had won his title in Pingyao some 4,100 years ago.

A legend goes that the city wall of Pingyao was built as early as 827 B.C. to 782 B.C. when Ji Jing, a king of the Western Zhou Dynasty (c.1100 B.C.- c.771 B.C.), sent his troops here to guard the frontier of Western Zhou's territory.

The city wall of today's Pingyao, one of the oldest and largest county walls in China, was rebuilt in 1370 on the basis of the old city wall. With a circumference of 6,200 meters, the city wall is six to ten meters high and the wall top is three to six meters wide. Moreover, the city wall has six city gates and four turrets surrounded by a moat four meters deep and four meters wide.

The design of the ancient city is strictly according to China's traditional archaeological thoughts.

The city is square and upright and all streets cross each other horizontally and vertically. A main street from north to south divides the town into two parts with the city tower located in the center.

Major constructions are distributed orderly in the left and right parts of the city with the town god's temple in the left city corresponding to the county governmental office in the right, the Confucian temple in the left corresponding to the Guandi Temple worshipping Guan Yu, deified god of war, in the right, and the Qingxu Temple of Taoism in the left corresponding to Buddhist temples in the right.

The ancient city is also called the city of the turtle with the southern gate as the head, the northern gate as the tail, the four gates in the west and east as the four legs and the four major streets, eight small streets and 72 lanes as designs on the back of the turtle. In ancient China, a turtle was the symbol of longevity and peace.

During the 1800-1900 period, Pingyao had been the financial center of China, when 22 of China's 51 firms for money exchange and transfer took Pingyao as their headquarters. The main street of the city, currently a 440-meter-long street in the Ming and Qing styles, had been called the Wall Street of Asia in the 19th century.

At that time, Pingyao was honored with the name of "Little Beijing".

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, scholars were superior to all other walks of life and merchants were taken as one of the lowest social classes. However, the Pingyao people took a completely different view. According to them, success in business was taken as their pride, while scholars were ranked as even inferior to peasants and soldiers.

After hundreds of years, when most towns and counties were destroyed by wars and modern construction, the ancient city still stands as a witness of history.
 
(Xinhua News Agency June 11, 2004)