The ancient city of Pingyao in Shanxi Province, designated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO on December 3, 1997, is an outstanding example of cities of the Han people in China during the Ming and Qing perilds, it mirrors the culrural, social, economic and religious development in the course of China's historical progress.
　　The ancient city of Pingyao at the southem edge of the Central Shanxi Basin is 100 kilometers from Taiyan, the provincial capital. The history of city can be traced back to the period of King Xuan(827-782B.C.) of the Westerm Zhou dynasty 2,700 years ago when a city wall of rammed earth was built by the army statined there for defence invaders. It became the seat of the county government from the first year of the Shogun reign (424) of the Northern Wei dynasty and has remained so down to the present day. The scale of today's Pingyao was reached in the third year of the Hong wu reign(1370) in the Ming dynasty when the city was being enlarged. In the past 600 years of great changes, the layout of the city has remained basically unchanged, though the city wall has sustained serious damage. In the 1980s, the city wall was restored to its original appearance with govemment funds totaling six million yuan.
　　The wall enclosing the city is 6.4 kilometers in total length, 6-10 meters high 9-12 meters wide at the base and 3-6 meters at the top. Two horse-drawn carriages can run side by side on the top of the city wall. There are two-meter-high battlements on the wall for soldiers to take shelter in battle and 0.6-metre-high parapets with a watch tower on each of them were built of intervals 1 of about 80 meters. Each of the watch towers is three metres wide and deep and seven metres high, so that soldiers guarding the city could relax in it and were protected against the hot sun in summer and cold in winter.
　　There are altogether 71 watch towers.1 Tower of the God of Literature and 3,000 battlements. At each of the four corners is a corner tower. A gate tower is built on each of the six city gates. At the foot of the Ming and Qing city wall is the moat of three metres wide and deep with transparently clear in it The moat is spanned by a draw bridge at each of the city gates. The draw bridge to go in and come out of the city amd raised at night for safety. The scenery along the city wall is enhanced by willows planted along both banks of the moat.
　　Studies by specialists show that the city wall of Pingyao built in the shape of a regular square embodies the traditiond "rites" of the Han people, and the length of three li (1.5 kilometres) on each side of the city wall is in conformity with the ranking system of cities and towns. Only the southern side is slightly curved in the shape of a turtle's back. The crisscrossing of the streets and alleys in the city is like the pattern on a turtle's back. The ancient city of Pingyao is, therefore, also known as the Turtle City, which symbolizes impregnable defence, good luck and longevity.
　　The structures on the city wall also have their symbolic meanings. It was said that when Confucius toured the states, he recruited 72 prominent scholars and 3,000 disciples. The 3,000 crenels on the city wall stand for his 3,000 disciples, and each watch tower stands for a prominent scholar. There are, however, only 71 watch towers. This is because Zi Lu, one of the 72 prominent scholars, worshipped military force and was excluded from the list by Confucius. Later, people bulit the Tower of the God of literature on the bastion for the 72nd watch tower.
　　The 2.25 square kilometres enclosed by the city wall is crisscrossed by over 100 streets and alleys lined with two-storeyed shop fronts, residential houses and imposing temples dating from the 15th century. There are also many old buildings and priceless cultural relics dating from the 10th century. They are important parts of the history and culture of the ancient city of Pingyao, which are highly valuable artistically and scientifically for the study of city architecture in China since the Ming and Qing periods, mankind's housing style and the development of traditional culture.
　　The ancient buildings in the city of Pingyao are unique in style. The Confucian Temple is the earliest extant one built for the veneration of Confucius. Its main buiding, the Halll of Great Accomplishments, was built in the year of Dading(1163) of the Jin dynasty. The rhree-storeyed City Tower at the center of the ancient city was built in the Ming dynasty and reconstructed in the Qing dynasty. There is a well east of the City Tower. When the sun casts its rays into the well, the water in the well tuuns golden in colour. The tower is, therefore, also called Golden Well Tower. The top storey commands a panoramic view of the city. The tower itself has become a landmark of the ancient city.
　　There are two other national treasures outside the city, which are included as parts of the World Cultural Heritage. One is the Zhenguo Temple, a typical Buddhist establishment of the Five Dynasties period(907-960), 12 kilometres northeast of the city. The Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas, the 11 painted statues in the hall are sculptured with well filled-out figures and gracefull lines in the high Tang style. Like the painted statues in Dunhuang, they are ancient art treasures. The other one is the Shuanglin Temple, six kilometers southwest of the city. Pre-served in the halls of this temple are more than 2,000 pqinted and unpainted statues of the Song,Yuan,Ming and Qing periods. Finely and vividly sculptured in large scenes, they have long been famous works in the history of sculptural art in China and praised by both Chinese and foreign art critics as "an art treasure house of Oriental painted statues."
　　There are 3,797 old residential houses with disinctive local teatures of a courtyard and enclosed by a wall as high as seven to eight metres. They are as solid and imposing as a castle sealed off from the outside. The front doors opening to the street and the beams and rafters are all elaborately decorated. There are also different styles of carvings in wood and stone and boards with inscriptions of profound meanings by well-known calligraphers.