Torch around China - Yuncheng & Pingyao (Jun.25) 六月 29, 2008
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Yuncheng, once named Hedong, is located in southwestern Shanxi province.
It adjoins Lüliang Mountain and Linfen on the north, Zhongtiao Mountain and Pucheng on the east, and the provinces of Shaanxi and Henan on the west and south. The city has a population of 4.95 million, with 71 percent inhabiting rural areas.
Located in a traditionally agricultural region, Yuncheng is characterized by flat lands, fertile soil and a warm climate. It receives 525 mm of rain annually and the temperature averages 13 degrees Celsius.
:mrgreen:
Pingyao County is located in central Shanxi Province, 94 kilometers southwest of Taiyuan, the provincial capital. The county’s downtown region covers an area of 5.7 sq km and has a population of 54,400. One of China’s most well preserved ancient walled cities, also named Pingyao, is located here.
Pingyao has a temperate continental monsoon that is semi-dry with an annual average temperature of 10.2 degrees Celsius and annual precipitation of 480 mm, with rainfall concentrated in the summer.
Initially built during the reign of King Xuan of the Western Zhou Dynasty (827-782 B.C.), the walled city of Pingyao has a history of over 2,700 years. Located on the trade route between Beijing and Xi’an, Pingyao developed into a center of trade where enterprising locals set up the nation’s earliest banks, named Piaohao. These institutions were the first in China to use checks, and business peaked in the 19th century, when the city was the undisputed financial center of the Qing government. Shanxi business people (Jin Shang) were quite famous in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The walled city covers an area of 2.25 sq km. The city wall was expanded for defensive purposes in 1370, when Ming Emperor Hongwu was on the throne. The wall runs 6,162.68 meters (about 4 miles) around the city and stands about 12 meters tall and 3 to 6 meters wide on top. It is made of rammed earth strengthened with a covering of bricks and stones. Outside the city wall there is a moat, 4 meters wide and 4 meters deep. There are 72 watchtowers on top of the city wall and 3,000 external battlements. The city wall, the streets, buildings and shops are all preserved from the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
In 1997 UNESCO decided to include Pingyao on the World Heritage List, the comments reading: the Ancient City of Ping Yao is “an outstanding example of a Han Chinese city of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, retaining all the features of these periods. Pingyao presents a picture of unusual cultural, social, economic, and religious development in Chinese history.”
Thirty points of interest lie in and around Pingyao, including its two other “treasures,” Zhengguo Temple and Shuanglin Temple (Double Tree Temple), the first treasure being the city wall. Zhengguo Temple, located 12 km northeast of Pingyao, features unique wooden structural architecture, and Shuanglin Temple, located 6 km southwest of Pingyao, is famous for its colorful sculptures. Another attraction is the Pingyao Confucius Temple, first built in the Tang Dynasty and restored in 1163. Rishengchang was established in the early Qing Dynasty, as the forerunner for organizing China’s early finance system, handling remittance, money exchange, deposits, loans and other financial business.
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