Your guide will pick you up at the lobby of your hotel at 09:00 in the morning or Pingyao train station and today you will going to visit the Ancient City of Pingyao. As one of the four best preserved old cities in China, the 2,700-year-old Ancient City of Pingyao is famous for containing the most complete dwellings complex and shops with architectural style of Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 – 1911), which are arranged at both sides of the 400-meter-long Ancient Ming-Qing Street. Situated in the center of the city, Ancient Government Office is built with a symmetrical layout. In Security Guard Company, you will know the history about the security industry through the cases, vehicles and weapons used at that time. From our guide's explanation, you will know the cultural background of Rishengchang Exchange Shop, the first private financial institution in China.

Your Pingyao ancient town tour will begin with a visit to the City Wall of Pingyao, which has been well preserved. As a whole, the rectangular wall resembles a tortoise, which was considered as a symbol of longevity traditionally. Ascending the wall, you could overlook the ancient city of Pingyao.

Then, get down from the wall and have a stroll on the traditional Ming-Qing Street. On both sides of this not very wide street, there are many buildings in ancient Chinese architecture style, which used to be firms, exchange shops and different kinds of shops like teashop, cloth shop and salt shop. Nowadays, some of them have been turned to hotels, restaurants or shops selling souvenirs while some have been preserved as attraction sites and museums.

Then, pay a visit to Pingyao Ancient Government Office, which is located in the middle of the ancient city for more than 600 years. Covering about 26,000 square meters (31,095 square yards), it includes many majestic courtyards and buildings. The Security Guard Company is also worth seeing for it is a museum which introduces the development of the ancient Chinese security guards.

After lunch, you will proceed to Ri Sheng Chang Exchange Shop and Tong Xing Gong. Ri Sheng Chang Exchange Shop is the first money exchange shop in China as well as the founder of Chinese modern banks, which has played an important role in Chinese financial business for about one century. Tong Xing Gong was an establishment which provided private escort service for the exchange shops to guard their safety during transportation.