Path of history

Pingyao is a fine example of the well-preserved Han civilization. Plans are afoot to further protect local heritage, report Yang Feiyue in Beijing and Sun Ruisheng in Taiyuan.

Editor's note: China is home to 56 UNESCO World Heritage sites. To find out how these natural and cultural gems still shine and continue to inspire the nation in this new era of development, China Daily is running a series of reports covering 10 groups of selected sites from across the country. In this installment, we travel back in time to the bustling, crisscrossing lanes of the ancient town of Pingyao in Shanxi province.

Guo Chengxian is ecstatic. His ancestral home in Pingyao-a small, two-story building that is more than three centuries old-has received a new lease of life. The county government has offered a subsidy of 67,000 yuan ($9,990) to help restore the parts of the property most desperately in need of repair.

"Now, I can continue to live here without worries," says Guo. He is among many locals who have benefited from the county's restoration and renovation drive for traditional dwellings since 2012. The government offers two-thirds of the renovation costs while the owners bear the rest.

By conservative estimates, the local administration has invested 15 million yuan over the past decade to fix more than 100 historical buildings.

The walled town of Pingyao is tucked away in the city of Jinzhong in North China's Shanxi province, half an hour by high-speed train from the provincial capital of Taiyuan.

Pingyao is famous for its urban planning and well-preserved architecture from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.