Qu Family Grand Courtyard in Qixian county. [Photo/shanxi.gov.cn]

The Qu family was one of China's well-known merchant families from Shanxi during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

The family had commercial and finance shops in big cities across China in its heyday, with a trade capital of more than 10 million taels of silver. 

The Qu Family Grand Courtyard in Qixian county in Jinzhong city was first built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. There were more than 10 grand yards with over 1,000 rooms, covering more than 30,000 square meters in the grand courtyard at the time. 

Nowadays, the Qu Family Grand Courtyard has been opened to the public as the Shanxi Merchants Culture Museum, the first museum in China to fully display the culture of Shanxi merchants.

The museum has 28 exhibition rooms covering the history of the Qu family, Shanxi merchants and operas, abacus culture and tea shops owned and operated by Shanxi merchants.

The museum displays the research results of Shanxi merchants' culture in a relatively concentrated way, fully profiling the 500 years between the rise and fall of Shanxi merchants, and reproducing the activities of Shanxi merchants. 

Address: No 33 East Avenue, Qixian county, Jinzhong city, Shanxi province

Hours of operation: 8:00 am-6:00 pm

Admission ticket price: 40 yuan ($6.19) per person

Tel: 0354-5223101