The Qiao courtyard in Pingyao city,Shanxi province.(Photo by Zhang Wei/China Daily)
When Qiao Guifa was young, it was predicted that he would become rich and successful, so the penniless orphan left home to try his luck and find good fortune. After 20 years of roaming and hard work he earned a lot of money, returned home and married a widow.
People were puzzled by the strange choice of wife for the well-heeled bachelor. Many families would have been pleased to have their young, beautiful daughters wed Qiao but he preferred the widow because she was the girl who had predicted his good fortune and inspired him on his journey to wealth so long before.
The prosperity of Qiao's family lasted for 200 years, with his descendants trading in China and abroad and opening a bank. Only revolution and the subsequent changes in China caused their businesses to decline. The family members had to leave their home and find other shelter. Many of them settled in foreign countries but the original family courtyard was perfectly preserved and turned into a museum. Its pillars, roofs and screens richly adorned with stone and wood carvings are a feast for one's eyes and its simple but well-planned interiors tell the family stories. It is no wonder that Zhang Yimou chose the compound to film his movie Raise the Red Lantern. Qiao's courtyard is an excellent example of the former lifestyles of Chinese merchants.
The Qiao courtyard is located in Shanxi province, which was prosperous during the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911). The province was an important commercial center of China, proof of which is the ancient city of Pingyao located 40 kilometers from the Qiao courtyard. It is a small walled city with a perimeter of 6.4 kilometers in which many wealthy people lived. These days, most of their mansions have become luxury hotels, providing a great many accommodation options for such a tiny city.
Pingyao is well worth visiting. Time seems to have stopped there centuries ago and the entire city has the same appearance as it did about 500 years ago, featuring brick walls, wooden facades with graceful carvings and ancient roofs of traditional tiles with edges decorated by lions' faces. Square stone pedestals topped by all kinds of mythical animals like huge ancient Chinese stamps stand all around the city, to which horses used to be tied. Pingyao was a center of crafts and you can still see a weaver or carver performing their craft using traditional techniques and tools in the city streets.
To entertain tourists, performances of an old time court hearing take place every day in the former Pingyao County Government Office, which has been transformed into a museum. The first Chinese bank — the Rishengchang — is also now a museum where visitors can learn about the financial system and security measures used in China 100 to 200 years ago.
In 1997, the ancient city of Pingyao was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as the best-preserved city in China. If you would like to spend a night in a museum, your wishes can be answered in Shanxi province.
