Ping Yao is an excep­tion­al­ly well-pre­served exam­ple of a tra­di­tion­al Han Chi­nese city, found­ed in the 14th cen­tu­ry. Its urban fab­ric shows the evo­lu­tion of archi­tec­tur­al styles and town plan­ning in Impe­r­i­al Chi­na over five cen­turies. Of spe­cial inter­est are the impos­ing build­ings asso­ci­at­ed with bank­ing, for which Ping Yao was the major cen­tre for the whole of Chi­na in the 19th and ear­ly 20th cen­turies.