Pingyao County

Your guide will pick you up at the lobby of your hotel at around 09:00 in the morning or Pingyao train station. You will be escorted to the well-known City Wall of Pingyao in around 15 minutes ride.

City Wall of Pingyao

Your Pingyao ancient town tour will begin with a visit to the City Wall of Pingyao, which has been well preserved. As a whole, the rectangular wall resembles a tortoise, which was considered as a symbol of longevity traditionally. Ascending the wall, you could overlook the ancient city of Pingyao.

Ming and Qing Dynasties Street

Then, get down from the wall and have a stroll on the traditional Ming-Qing Street. On both sides of this not very wide street, there are many buildings in ancient Chinese architecture style, which used to be firms, exchange shops and different kinds of shops like teashop, cloth shop and salt shop. Nowadays, some of them have been turned to hotels, restaurants or shops selling souvenirs while some have been preserved as attraction sites and museums.

Ping Yao Temple of the City God

Your next stop is the Temple of City God, one of the best-preserved Temples of City God in China. Its distinctive feature lies in the combination of the Temple of the God of Wealth and the Temple of the Kitchen God, which are separately situated to its right and left.

Rishengchang Former Bank

After lunch, you will proceed to Ri Sheng Chang Exchange Shop and Tong Xing Gong. Ri Sheng Chang Exchange Shop is the first money exchange shop in China as well as the founder of Chinese modern banks, which has played an important role in Chinese financial business for about one century. Tong Xing Gong was an establishment which provided private escort service for the exchange shops to guard their safety during transportation.

Pingyao County

At the end, your guide will escort you to your hotel.

Ancient City of Pingyao

Your guide will pick you up at the lobby of your Pingyao hotel at around 09:00 in the morning. You will be escorted to the well-known Wang Family's Compound in around 1.5 hours' ride.

Wang's Family Compound (Wang Jia Dayuan)

It is a large and magnificent architectural complex originally built around 250 years ago and Located in Lingshi County in Shanxi Province, the Wang Family's Compound is 35 kilometers (22 miles) away from Pingyao Ancient City. This luxurious residence was originally built during 1762-1811 by the descendants of the Wang Family. What makes this compound so impressive are the sheer size and gorgeous ornamental structures. It is like a mini walled city with more than 200 courtyards, each of them has its own distinctive features. The intricately carved wood doors, window casings, stairways, stone carvings, etc. could be found everywhere in the courtyards.

Zhangbi Ancient Castle

In the afternoon, the tour continues to Zhangbi Ancient Fortress where you will go through the maze-like underground tunnels. Different from the compounds and ancient city, Zhangbi Ancient Fortress is an exception of Shanxi merchants' culture. To resist the invasion of enemies, Chinese ancestors made full use of its geographic advantages and built a 10,000-meter long underground military tunnels with three floors in the village. Zhangbi Ancient Fortress is a complex of historical relics, tombs, residences and tunnels, in which the labyrinth-like underground tunnels are the most interesting.

Shuanglin Temple

After lunch, drive you back. On the way, you will pay a visit to Shuanglin Temple, which is different from many other temples for it still maintains its very old character. Shuanglin Temple is a peaceful, quiet and beautiful old temple. It is one of the three treasures of Pingyao, having been included in the World Heritage List by UNESCO in 1997. Praised as the 'ancient painted sculptures museum', this temple houses as many as 2056 colorful sculptures of Chinese Buddhism reflecting the exquisite skills of the artisans of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. The sculpture of One-thousand Hand Kwan-yin is definitely the most mesmerizing.

Pingyao County

At the end, drive you back to your hotel or see you off at Pingyao Railway Station.