Description：
The old city of Pingyao is a well-preserved historic city and also a prototype of ancient Chinese cities.It occupies a total area of 2.25 sq km,has apopulation of 42,000, and largely maintains its historical appearance of the Ming and Qing periods(1368～1911).
Built initially in King Xuan's reign(827～782BC)of the Western Zhou Dynasty,Pingyao has a history of over 2,700 years.Since the establishment of the¨prefecture and county system¨in ancient China in 221 BC,it has continuously been a county seat,a city at the lowest basic level.The extant city-walls come down from the 3rd year, Hongwu reign,Ming Dynasty(1370 AD),in the original shape resulting from the then enlargement.Within them remain six temple complexes,county administrative offices and a city tower,all original structures fromd different periods;over a hundred of well-preserved streets and alleys are flanked by commercial shops mostly built in the 17th-19th centuries; and 3,797 residences of traditional style are kept intact,among which more than 400 possess great protection value for their embodiment of unique local features.
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