Mingqing Street

Mingqing Street is lit up at night.

Mingqing Street is located on Pingyao county’s central axis. Stores from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties are well preserved on the street. The street is the most prosperous business center in Pingyao. On either side of the 400-meter-long street lie 78 stores, including draft banks, pawn shops, drug stores, groceries, butcher shops and clothing shops.

Shanxi merchants or Jin merchants, referring to merchants from Shanxi province heralded as China’s earliest traders, considered the street an ideal place to make money. They have set up different stores to attract tourists from across the country, including the Baichuantong and Xietongqing draft banks, Yunjincheng Chinese medicine stores, and the Yongtaicheng silk shop. The street is a platform for merchants to show their talent and compete with each other for customers.