Stone carving
On doors and walls.
Zhangzhugang — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Zhangzhugang — CC BY-SA 3.0 · 林高志 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 林高志 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 林高志 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zhangzhugang — CC BY-SA 3.0 · 林高志 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 林高志 — CC BY-SA 4.0
The largest of Shanxi's courtyard-house compounds, a residential fortress terraced up the slope of Mianshan above Jingsheng village, built by the Wang family over generations between the reigns of the Kangxi and Jiaqing emperors, from the late seventeenth to the early nineteenth century. Family lore says the Wangs' fortune began with selling bean curd and grew through trade and office until it peaked in the eighteenth century, when they raised this compound of 231 courtyards and 2,078 rooms over 8 hectares, its sections divided by moats crossed by stone bridges. The houses are known for fine carving in wood, stone and brick on their doors, walls and windows, and for gardens stepped on different levels; since 2008 it has been on the World Heritage tentative list among the old residences of Shanxi and Shaanxi. Tickets cost CNY 55 in season and CNY 30 otherwise, and it opens from 8:00 to 17:30 with sales ending at 17:00, per visitor guides. It is usually combined with Pingyao on a day trip by car.
On doors and walls.
On the hillside.
Over the moats.
Jingsheng village, Lingshi County, about 45 km south-west of Pingyao
About 45 kilometres south-west of Pingyao, usually visited by car on a day trip; tickets are CNY 55 in season, per visitor guides.