Top 6 Pingyao Things to Do | What to Do in Pingyao

• Recommended Tourist Attraction: Pingyao Ancient City

Recognized as an outstanding example of well-preserved Chinese city during the period from Ming to Qing Dynasty and a famous China’s ancient “Wall Street”, Pingyao Ancient City has kept numerous authentic cultural spots showing the entire society in once prosperous times. It is the top must-see for all Pingyao tourists, where you can get close to real China inside the walled historical city.

During your day trip here, you can explore Rishengchang Former Bank to know how the bank were formed, operated and affected the economy of the country. Please visit one of the past escort agencies to learn more about this unique job similar to the current express delivery industry. Ancient Government Office and over 400 traditional dwellings are good place to study the Siheyuan, a typical courtyard-style house complex in Northern China. Plus, there are many sights, like temples, residences you can visit to know more living and working scenes about Pingyao people. It’s very interesting to stroll some old street and lanes at night, get involved in local life and be indulged in the old and charming atmosphere in this living and breathing throwback.

• Related Pingyao Ancient Tours: ✔ 3 Days Pingyao Discovery Tour / ✔ 4 Days Essence of Datong & Pingyao Tour

• Opening Hours: 08:00-18:00

Pingyao ancient city wall is a major scenic site in Pingyao ancient city. The city wall is 6,157 meters long and 10 meters high, with 72 battlements and 3000 crenels. The city wall has four gates. The width of the upper side of the wall is at least three meters. It is paved with bricks. People can walk freely on the upper side but biking is not allowed. Walking on the wall, you can see the whole ancient city of Pingyao. Pingyao ancient city wall, as a county-level city wall, has been well preserved. It's unmissable for tourists who come here to walk to the ancient city wall in person or take a panoramic ancient cityscape of Pingyao.

• Popular Pingyao Tour: 4 Days Ancient Pingyao & Xian Tour

• Recommended Tourist Attraction: Wang’s Family Compound, Qiao's Family Compound

Pingyao was the banking capital playing a dominant influence in Chinese economy during Ming and Qing Dynasty. The rich local Shanxi merchants (Jin merchants) left many valuable architectural heritages, and Wang’s Family Compound and Qiao’s Family Compound are the two of the best quintessence of such type.

These ancient residential complexes are private estates of several generations, typical Siheyuan composition (Chinese quadrangles), awe-inspiring in size and design and built based on the surrounding terrain. Stepping into the circle fort walls, you can see many courtyards and over hundreds of houses with different functions, such as sleeping room, schools, kitchens, ancestor worship halls, embroidery buildings and gardens. The layout is symmetrical and each separate house is connected with each other by doors and passageways. These featured organizations are affected by Chinese feudal ideology, ritual and patriarchal clan systems. Forbidden City of Beijing is another famous representative in China.

Beyond the grand building group, you can clearly find massive beautiful and exquisite architectural decorations as well, like multi-layered gray roof tiles with dragon statues, lifelike stone, wood and brick carvings on beams, windows, furniture etc. With the help of a tour guide, you will learn how these compounds were constructed, why each area was designed and how unique and precious they are.

• Related Tours: ✔ 2 Days Pingyao Discovery Tour / ✔ 3 Days Pingyao Discovery Tour

• Recommended Tourist Attractions: Shuanglin Temple, Zhenguo Temple

With more than one thousand years of history, Shuanglin Temple and Zhenguo Temple are two other components of the UNSECO World Cultural Heritage of Ancient City of Pingyao. Though located quite close to Pingyao Ancient City, the two temples are less-known with just a few tourists. That perfectly offers a peaceful and leisure environment for you to appreciate the fascinating buildings and sculptures.

In the temple, you will firstly be impressed by the superb serenity and soul purification. Outside the main shrines, you can view ingenious wooden structures with some remaining murals, painted statues, plaques and ancient calligraphies. The most attracting part is the halls filled with hundreds of painted clay sculptures, most are Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, guardian saints, heroes in Chinese history or mythology, etc. Chinese culture fans are highly recommended visiting Shuanglin Temple - “An Oriental Art Gallery of Painted Sculpture”, witness painted sculptures in different side, color, gestures, art forms and dynasties. Four sculptures of Heavenly Kings in the first hall, the sitting Avalokitesvara and Wei Tuo beside in the second courtyard and Thousand-hand Bodhisattva are the best masterpieces among all artworks.

Meanwhile, in both temples, you can see plenty of murals, especially exhaustive serial Buddhist life story on walls. If you visit Zhenguo Temple, don’t miss the Wanfo Hall (The Ten-Thousand Buddha Hall), one of the oldest wooden buildings that has the one the very large brackets with flying eaves and roof. Whether you visit one of them or two both, you will get excellent opportunity to escape from crowded tourists, learn fantastic Chinese folk art covering architecture, painting, sculpture and Buddhism belief.

• Popular Tours: ✔ 2 Days Pingyao Ancient City Tour / ✔ 3 Days Pingyao Discovery Tour

• Ticket: CNY 238

• Show Times: 10:00-22:00

• Address: 154 Shuncheng Road, Pingyao County, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province 山西省晋中市平遥县顺城路154号

Rich Shanxi merchant presents the business success of Shanxi people, and local Shanxi people have more classic and time-honored traditional virtues: respect elders, love minors, cherish family’s affection and neighborhood, be kind, enthusiastic and obliging and so on. To truly understand people of Pingyao and Shanxi, it’s essential to watch the amazing Encore Pingyao (Youjian Pingyao), an interactive situational performance of Encore series.

The 90-minute show tells a story of brave rescue of bloodline from abroad in late Qing Dynasty. Owner of a Pingyao Draft Bank spent all of his money and life with 232 armed escorts to protect a child of his staff from Tsarist Russia. The whole play consists of different episodes like “Choosing Wife”, “Armed Escorts Taking Bath” to extol kindheartedness and courage of Pingyao people. Unlike other Impression Series, Encore Pingyao is performed indoor with Pingyao Ancient City as background, and divides the theatre into a maze. Audience can walk between different stages and see past life scenes in street, square, courtyard, escort agency and ancient city. Incredible lightning, sounds, costumes, dance, music, decorations will take you travel through an old movie. Only passion and devotion create this spectacular show. Show is all in Chinese, so get a tour guide to explain the story for you.

• Recommended Places to Eat: Ming and Qing Dynasties Street in Pingyao Ancient City, De Ju Yuan, Tian Yuan Kui Kezhan

Each city has its unique cuisines and flavors that is also an important part of local culture. Whether you are foodies or regular tourists, trying some local snacks and dishes can always enrich your Pingyao trip. Like most places in Shanxi, Pingyao is based on noodles in various forms. Vinegar is a popular condiment used in most dishes. The Pingyao Beef is the most notable dish commonly served in all restaurants of Pingyao. Other top-rated Pingyao local snacks include knife-cut noodles, oat noodles, Wantuo (steamed wheat or buckwheat flour, sliced and mixed with chilli sauce), fried eggplant, You Mian Kao Lao Lao (sort of pasta dish), etc. In the main streets inside Pingyao Ancient City, such the Ming and Qing Dynasties Street, there are many mid-ranged local restaurants, bars and guesthouses, so it’s easy to find and sample some quality and authentic local Pingyao food. Don’t worry; most eateries have easy-to-understand menu and friendly staff for English tourists.