Every year on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the "Pingyao Chinese Year" always brings excitement to the ancient northern city of Pingyao. This Spring Festival event was founded in 2006. After being selected as China's first global Chinese Spring Festival cultural symbol promotion base in 2015, it has gradually become a Spring Festival "check-in" for tourists at home and abroad.
Pingyao ancient city wall. Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
So, how to celebrate the Spring Festival in Pingyao Ancient City?
Is there anything worth seeing?
Just read this guide!
01
these places
must go
Pingyao Ancient City is one of only three world cultural heritage sites in Shanxi and one of the four best-preserved ancient cities in China. The ancient city wall of Pingyao was built in the period of King Xuan of the Western Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,800 years. During the more than 500 years of the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was repaired and rebuilt 26 times. It still maintains the style of the city wall during the Ming and Qing dynasties, fully demonstrating the cultural, social, economic and religious development hundreds of years ago.
Aerial photography of the ancient city of Pingyao. Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
The ancient city of Pingyao is composed of four streets and 72 alleys. The mottled old walls, lively streets, quiet residential narrow alleys, and winding paths outline the simple and natural lines of Pingyao.
Residential houses in Pingyao Ancient City. Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
The traditional houses in the ancient city of Pingyao not only use the universal architectural techniques of the Han people in the Central Plains region, but also have distinctive local characteristics. There are 3,798 traditional courtyard houses with protection value in the city, of which 400 are intact and retain their original form and charm from the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Siheyuan in the ancient city of Pingyao. Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
There are many courtyard houses in the ancient city of Pingyao. Walk through the ancient and long alleys, cross the courtyard gate and enter a small courtyard. The mottled tree shadows fall on the wall, and a quiet and peaceful picture emerges on the page.
The mythical beasts on ancient buildings in Pingyao. Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
There are many mythical beasts on the eaves of ancient buildings. Edward Fox, the author of "Five Ridges and Six Beasts" lamented: "In the entire history of human architecture, the ridge decoration of Chinese roofs is unique, and there is no other similar architectural phenomenon." The Roof Beast is a protector created by people to be by their side at all times.
Market buildings in Pingyao Ancient City. Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
The market building was built in an unknown year. It was rebuilt in the 27th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign in the Qing Dynasty. It was repaired later. The structure is a square pavilion with a triple eaves and a hilltop wooden structure. The shape is gorgeous and solemn. The people who have lived under her knees for generations are attached to her like a loving mother and worship her like a monarch. They always give her a luxurious and simple name: "Jinjing Market Building" based on an ancient well whose water is as golden as gold that has long been covered up. !
Pingyao County Government. Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
Pingyao County Government is located in the middle of the ancient city, covering an area of about 26,000 square meters. It was first built in the Yuan Dynasty and finalized in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The entire government office faces south and is composed of a central axis and buildings on the east and west sides. It is the most complete and largest feudal county government office in the country, and it is also a comprehensive carrier of local architectural features.
The former address of Rishengchang Bank. Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
China Ticket Number Museum (Rishengchang Ticket Number) is located on the south side of West Street in Pingyao Ancient City at the site of the original Rishengchang Ticket Number. Rishengchang Ticket Number was founded in 1823 AD and was the first ticket number in China. It is known as "China's Ticket Number". "The Rural Originator of Banking" is a milestone in the history of China's financial development and has epoch-making significance.
Statue of Wei Tuo in Shuanglin Temple, Pingyao. Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
The statue of Wei Tuo (also known as Wei Tuo) in the Thousand-Buddha Hall of Shuanglin Temple in Pingyao is a masterpiece among similar works in the country. It has been highly praised by experts at home and abroad. It is soft in its hardness, rich in martial arts, and powerful. Rather than being brave, he is witty and brave, full of strength, and his body is like a strong bow. The statue of Wei Tuo is praised by experts as "the best statue of Wei Tuo in the country".
Pingyao Zhenguo Temple. Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
The Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Zhenguo Temple is one of the oldest existing wooden structures in China and a rare Five Dynasties building in the country. Although it has been repaired over the years, it still retains its Tang Dynasty style, reflecting the regulation and style of early Chinese palace architecture, which is extremely precious.
Xie Xie Qing - China Bank (Bill Bank) Museum is located at the former site of Xie Xie Qing Bank at No. 45 South Street. Synergy Qingqing Bank was founded in the sixth year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (1856) and is one of the top ten ticket banks in Pingyao.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the ancient city of Pingyao was an overflowing shopping mall. Goods from all over the world were brought here, and then shipped to the whole country. Frequent turnover resulted in the emergence of many stores integrating storage, storage and remittance businesses in the ancient city of Pingyao. Financial ticket numbers also caused a lot of silver to flow to the ancient city of Pingyao.
As the Year of the Dragon approaches, Pingyao, an ancient city with a long history, naturally has dragon elements.
Longmen Square is a unique setting of the Pingyao Confucian Temple Academy. There is a saying among the people that if you jump on the Dragon Gate once, you will be awarded a gold medal; if you jump on the Dragon Gate twice, you will rise to the top; if you jump on the Dragon Gate three times, you will have a lot of money; if you jump on the Dragon Gate four times, you will have a good marriage for a hundred years... .
Pingyao Longmenfang. Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
The Nine Dragon Wall in Pingyao is a relic of the early Ming Dynasty and was originally the screen wall of the mountain gate of Taizi Temple. The architectural structure of Pingyao's Nine Dragon Wall is quite artistic. It is made of clay and pottery, wrapped in yellow, green, blue, purple, black and other multi-colored glazed components. The entire wall is decorated with turquoise waves, blue clouds, yellow and so on. With flowing clouds as the background, it can be called the best of ancient Chinese wall sculptures.
Pingyao Nine Dragon Wall. Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
02
"Pingyao Chinese New Year" to experience ancient customs
The theme of the 2024 "Pingyao Chinese Year" is "Dragon New Era Vibrant Chinese Year", starting from February 2 (the 23rd lunar month) to February 25 (the 16th lunar month), lasting for 24 days, during which 15 activities were held in three major sections: "Dragon and Phoenix to welcome the New Year, dragon and phoenix to dance to celebrate the New Year, dragon and phoenix to celebrate the New Year".
Awesome gong and drum performance. Photo by Liang Shengren
From the first day of the first lunar month to the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, an intangible cultural heritage Shehuo team will depart from the old site of Xingguo Temple in the ancient city every morning and conduct a tour through Market Entrance, Ming and Qing Street, West Street and other places, performing traditional lion dances, pavilion raising, Yangko and other Folk customs will also be staged in turn to showcase ancient customs and culture.
Dragon dance and lion dance and other intangible cultural heritage performances during the 2024 Pingyao Chinese Year. Photo by Liang Shengren
At the old site of Xingguo Temple, the "Spring Comes to Thousands of Households, Lianhong Ancient City" activity of sending Spring Festival couplets with splashes of ink is being held. Hundreds of calligraphy volunteers volunteered to write Spring Festival couplets and blessing characters for residents of the ancient city and surrounding villages and communities, adding to the rich cultural atmosphere of the Spring Festival in the ancient city.
A Spring Festival couplet sending event was held at the former site of Xingguo Temple. Photo by Zhang Haoliang
In the Pingyao Film Palace, where the Pingyao International Film Exhibition is held, there are colorful experience activities such as lantern viewing, intangible cultural heritage tasting, photo check-in, children's entertainment, circus performances, etc., creating a brightly lit and colorful experience for tourists. , a fun lantern temple fair.
Pingyao Ancient City New Year Lantern Festival. Photo by Zhu Meng
In the Impression New Street near Ximen of the ancient city of Pingyao, there is also a real-life stage created by integrating poetry and wine culture, Shanxi merchant culture, time-honored brand culture, intangible cultural heritage and other cultural elements, using modern commercial symbols and popular elements, during which there is also the "See You Again" "A series of 6 immersive and wonderful performances including dart walking, group fanning, and face changing, making time-honored brands and domestic products "fans" of the younger generation.
Fan performance at Impression New Street. Photo by Zhang Haoliang
The ethnic costume travel photography event with the theme of "going home" during the Spring Festival will also allow tourists to experience the culture of ethnic costumes. If you come to visit, you can also rent a set of ethnic costumes and become a "young lady". Walking through the ancient city will feel like traveling through a thousand years.
Ethnic costume travel photography activity. Photo by Liang Shengren
Until the 16th day of the first lunar month, you can see the 18-minute Pingyao 3D light show every night. The show is divided into five chapters: "Chaos, Rise of Power, Achievement, Vientiane, and Unification", covering regional history, social culture, The ancient city of Pingyao is fully displayed in terms of folk customs, today's glory, and bright future, and the thousand-year-old ancient city is "alive" through scientific and technological means.
The light show outside Yingxun Gate in Pingyao Ancient City. Photo by Liang Shengren
The science and technology show of Pingyao Science and Art Museum and the lacquer paintings and oil paintings brought by famous artists will also be on display during the Spring Festival. In order to show the great contribution Ruan Yisan, a professor at Tongji University, has made in protecting the ancient city of Pingyao, the local government also launched the "Ruan Yisan Cultural Heritage Protection and Inheritance" series of exhibitions, telling the stories behind the protection of cultural relics and showing the hardships of protecting cultural heritage.
Science and technology show at Pingyao Science and Technology Art Museum. Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
03
these experiences
Don't miss it
Pingyao beef. Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
It is said that Pingyao has the "Three Treasures" - beef, lacquerware, and long yam.
The processing and production of Pingyao beef began in the Western Han Dynasty and has gone through several long stages of technological evolution, such as marinating the meat before cooking in the Tang and Song Dynasties, boiling and warming the meat, stewing in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and braised the meat in old soup. Today's Pingyao beef has formed five major technological processes of "preparation, slaughtering, marinating, brine and trimming", inheriting the tradition of "Chinese time-honored brand". More than 100 beef products are sold all over the country every year.
In recent years, Pingyao beef has traveled across the ocean and been exhibited and sold in Canada, South Africa, Thailand and other countries and regions.
Workers are making Pingyao lacquerware. Photo by Hu Jian
Pingyao Tuiguang lacquerware is one of the four major lacquerwares in China. Because of its perfect combination of ornamental value, practicality and traditional style, Pingyao Tuiguang lacquerware occupies an important position in the history of Chinese lacquerware. In 2006, Pingyao lacquerware painting techniques were included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage protection lists.
Pingyao long yam. Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
Pingyao Changyam is a specialty product of Pingyao County. It is also known as "little ginseng". It is an authentic product with high quality. It has long stems, thick skin, thin skin, and is easy to preserve.
Pingyao noodles are delicious. Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
In addition, Pingyao also has a well-known home-cooked delicacy of Shanxi people - oatmeal noodles. Although it belongs to the category of coarse grains, its unique flavor still takes its place among many oatmeal products.
Pingyao Camellia oleifera. Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
Pingyao Camellia oleifera, with its rich flavor, has become a common breakfast and dinner convenience food in northern China. It is made from whole grain powder and a variety of nuts, stir-fried and mixed. A bowl of boiling water can diffuse its aroma.
When visiting the ancient city of Pingyao, the large-scale live-action drama "Seeing Pingyao Again" is a performance not to be missed. This live-action drama directed by Wang Chaoge has been performed for thousands of times since its performance on February 18, 2013. For 90 minutes, the audience walked through different scenes, watching and even interacting with the actors as they walked. By telling a story about blood inheritance, it highlights the Shanxi merchant spirit of Pingyao people who are supreme in morality.
Stills from the performance of "Seeing Pingyao Again". Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
Helicopter low-altitude tour of Pingyao Ancient City. Provided by Pingyao County Culture and Tourism Bureau
When bidding farewell to the ancient city of Pingyao, you might as well take a helicopter ride to overlook the entire ancient city from the air and see thousands of years of history at a glance.
Come to Pingyao this Spring Festival
Seeing the ancient charm for the first time
See the vicissitudes of Pingyao again
ancient Pingyao
Waiting for you to unlock the treasure hidden in the mottled city wall
cultural code