Chinese Pingyao ancient city

Chinese Pingyao ancient city

Located at in Shanxi province, Pingyao ancient city is famous city with a history more than 2700 years, one of the four best-preserved ancient cities in China nowadays. In the early of the Ming dynasty, the city walls were constructed to defend outside nations to the south, in the Qing dynasty, four great city towers were added to make the city more magnificent. The circumference of the Pingyao city wall is 6163 meters, 12 meters high, which divides the 2.25 square kilometers’ town into two totally different worlds. The streets ,shops, floored buildings are reserving the models of the Ming and Qing dynasties inside the wall, the outside is called New city. It is a ancient and modern mixed place which attracts you to visit. It is with long history and many relics which completely exemplifies the historical appearance of 17th century to 19th century as a museum of the architecture art of the Ming and Qing dynastied. Its numbers and grade of the ancient buildings and relics are rare at home, offering important cultural ,artistic and scientific values for investigating for the transfer of Chinese ancient cities ,and construction of the ancient cities, living forms and traditional culture.Pingyao ancient city is a town which was constructed all by the traditional thought of city planning and layout of Chinese Han nationality. In the closed city, centered by the city building, four main streets, eight small streets and seventy two lanes interweaved orderly together with distinct functions. The ancient residential in the city are all four-walled courtyards with grey bricks and grey tiles, on distinct axis and symmetrical between the right and the left. Especially the bricked cave house is the most local residential. There are 3797 four-walled courtyards with more than 400 ones are well-preserved. Furthermore, some other big and small temples and ancient shops have exemplified the original prosperous scene of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

There are three parts you have to visit when you are in Pingyao. The ancient bricked walls is one of them, which has gone through 600 years’ history with magnificence. The circumference of the ancient wall is 6 kilometers with 3000 gates. To the northeast out of the northern gate there is the Zhenguo temple, which is the second treasure of the city. It was built in the 10th century AD, the third biggest wood-structured building with more than 1000 years’ history, in which 2000 colored-sculptures of the Five dynasty are the precious sculpture treasures.The third treasure of the ancient city is Shuanglin temple which was located in the southwest of the city built in 571 year AD. The 2000 and so colored sculptures from Yuan dynasty to Ming dynasty in more than 10 basilicas are called” treasure of the colored sculptures’. The ancient Pingyao was prosperous, the modern one is also with charm. Though other cultural ancient cities are destroyed by the nowadays’ commercial activities , Pianyao has been reserved so well. Pingyao has reserved its complete characteristics, offering a complete marvelous cultural, social , economical and religious developmental picture in the Chinese cultural development.