During Mark's recent visit, we went to Pingyao for the weekend. Pingyao is known for being the financial center of China. Paper money was invented here and this is where the first banks came into being. It is also known as one of the best preserved walled cities in China. We stayed in an ancient courtyard hotel, so it was really like stepping back in time. The photos show one of the watch towers on the city wall. As we were strolling the streets, Mark was approached by a group of boys who were doing a class homework assignment. They had to speak English with the foreigner, take his picture (with the students), and get him to write his name in a book. Mark did all of this, then insisted on a picture with them. It was great fun!
On the second day, we want to Mr. Xiao's (pronounced Chow's) Residence which is a huge courtyard home where the movie Raise the Red Lanterns was filmed. I remember loving that movie and it was really cool to see the courtyards where all of this took place. In case I haven't mentioned it, courtyard homes were a standard style here in China and many of them survive today. The basic structure is 4 rooms around a central courtyard. Oftentimes, the extended family lived in the courtyard home with each family group having a room off of the courtyard. Wealthier families would have multiple courtyards with 4 rooms off of each. Mr. Xiao (a wealthy merchant who made money from tofu and soy bean products) had a residence with at least 10 courtyards (many of which housed his concubines and their children).
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