Pingyao City Wall



The Pingyao City Wall lies in northwest Pingyao County, Shanxi Province. The city of Pingyao is one of the
four remaining well-preserved ancient cities in China and a typical representative of ancient city life at the
Central Plain, inhabited by the Han nationality.

The city was built between 827 and 782BC during the Western Zhou period (11th century-771BC). In 1370
during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the city was expanded to ward off military attacks by foreign
invaders. In 1823 during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the Chinese first exchange shop named
Rishengchang was set up in the city.

The city wall keeps the style of the city wall of Ming and Qing dynasties. The general principle is powerful
and broad in scale. It is said that the design of the city gates signifies a tortoise of longevity: the south one
facing a river - its head; two wells outside the gate-its eyes; the north-its tails; the four gates in the east and west-its four limbs; the zigzag streets
and alleys in the county-the patterns on its back. Therefore, it is regarded as the tortoise city, which stands for the immortality of the city.

The city wall has a perimeter of 6.4 kilometers and is over 12 meters high and 3.5 meters wide. The black-bricked wall contains an inner wall
made of earth and six gates on all four sides. Altogether there were 94 towers, including turrets, and platforms, but only a few of them remain. The
city wall is surrounded by a moat four meters wide and deep. The well-preserved streets, buildings and shops have kept their original style,
providing important material for studies in architecture and city arrangements during the Ming period.

Except the southern wall, which zigzags a bit according to the land contour, the other three walls all go straight,
making the city area a square one. All six city gates have gate towers and inside gates attached to them. Dug around
the walls is a defense ditch measuring more than 3.3 meters in depth and 3.3 meters in width with trees planted
along it. A drawbridge is built in front of each gate.