Brief information on Ancient City Wall  

Pingyao City is nicknamed “Tortoise City” by local people, because the pattern of the ancient city wall, seen from above, resembles a tortoise (the head, tail, eyes, and four legs). There are six gates in the city wall, with one gate each in north and south sides and two gates each in the east and west sides. Among them, the South gate looks like the head of the tortoise, facing to the Zhongdu River while the North Gate is resembles a tail, with the lowest position in the whole city. There were once two wells outside the city, which seemed to form the two eyes of the turtle. The two gates in both the eastern and western walls look much like the four legs of a tortoise. Traditionally, the tortoise was regarded as a symbol of longevity; therefore it was hoped that building Pingyao’s wall in this manner would ensure the city was permanently secure.

In addition, there are 3000 crenels and 72 watch towers on the top of the ancient city wall, symbolizing the 72 disciples and 3000 students of the great Confucius, which bring some literary grace to the commercial city of Pingyao.

*You can download the bilingual note to show it to a taxi driver or someone else to find your way to Ancient City Wall if you plan to visit Ancient City Wall and have language problems.

   

Admission: CNY 120