Pingyao is a famous historic cultural city of China and a world cultural heritage site. Located in the center of Shanxi Province, it’s 90 kilometers south of Taiyuan on the Fen River. The Dayun highway, the new Dayun Expressway and the Tongpu railway run north-south through or near it. Frequent trains and buses run between the two cities, taking about 1 1/2 hours.

The city wall stretches for about six kilometers. The town is protected by a city moat, both three meters deep and wide. Outside the city gate is a drawbridge. Within the city, four big streets and eight small streets radiate to join with 72 lanes. The 3,797 original quadrangle residential houses are all of the same black-colored bricks and gray-colored tiles. Out of the total, over 400 of these courtyard houses are still well preserved. There are also temples of varying size and old-fashioned stores.

Pingyao boasts plenty of cultural relics. Outside the town are the well-preserved Shuanglin Temple, built in 571, Xiaoxu Temple, built in 657, Thousand-Buddha Hall of Zhengguo Temple and Dacheng Hall of the Wenmiao Temple, built in 963, and the Huiji Bridge, built in 1671.

The old town of Pingyao went on the list of world cultural heritage in 1997.