Pingyao

Built in 1370 and intact all round, a little over 6 km; its 72 watchtowers and 3,000 crenels are said to number Confucius's disciples. Six gates stand for a head, a tail and four legs, hence the nickname Turtle City. You can walk the full loop on top.

Opened in 1823, the first piaohao in China, it let a merchant cash one note at a branch in another province instead of hauling silver. The vault, ledger rooms and reception hall survive in the back. It stands on West Street, close to the gate.

A Ming-Qing county office laid out on one axis: main gate, courtroom, jail, then the magistrate's living quarters. Several times daily the courtyard stages a mock trial. The cells are cramped and dark, and looking in brings a chill.

The old shopping street running straight north from the south gate, with the three-storey Market Tower straddling it halfway. Climb the tower and grey tile roofs spread in every direction. At night red lanterns come on and every lane fills.

One enclosure shelters the city's guardian god, the god of wealth and the kitchen god. The main hall's green and yellow glazed tiles glow in sunlight. It balances the yamen east and west across South Street, and a visit covers both.

A temple in the fields southwest of town, its halls crowded with over 2,000 painted clay figures made from the Song to the Qing. The halls are dim and you see little at first; stand a moment until your eyes adjust. A short taxi ride from the walls.

Its Ten Thousand Buddha Hall went up in 963, among the oldest timber buildings left in China. Big nail-free bracket sets hold up the eaves. It lies in a village northeast of town, paired with Shuanglin in one day.

The Qixian mansion of the merchant Qiao clan: six courtyards and over 300 rooms behind high walls. Zhang Yimou shot Raise the Red Lantern here. About 40 minutes by car from Pingyao, a half-day trip.

The Wang clan's mansion in Lingshi county, climbing a slope in terraces and far larger than the Qiao compound. Carving on doors, windows and column bases changes with every house and holds you for a long time. About 70 minutes' drive from Pingyao.

A Jiexiu mountain with Taoist and Buddhist temples set into hollows in its cliffs. Jie Zitui, of the Jin state in the Chunqiu era, hid and burned to death here, and the fire-free Cold Food day began in his memory. Narrow cliff walkways move crowds single file.

A museum of a biaoju, the armed firms that guarded silver and goods on the road. Spear and sword racks line its courtyard, beside the drill ground where escorts once trained. Martial arts displays run at set times; ask at the gate.

A Qing-era Pingyao bank that took deposits and lent money, best known for the vault beneath its courtyard. Narrow stairs lead to tunnels where silver ingots were stacked, winding like a maze. It is cool and low inside; mind your head.

A temple to Confucius whose main Dacheng Hall was rebuilt under the Jin in 1163. People once prayed here to pass the imperial exams, and students facing tests still hang red wish tags. It lies in the southern part of the walled town, near the south gate.

A Taoist temple on the main street in the east of the walled town, with halls surviving from the Yuan. It doubles as a museum of old steles and clay figures. Just off South Street, it is quiet with few visitors in the courtyard.

Wang Chaoge directed this indoor show about a Qing merchant family that stood by its escorts. The audience stays on its feet and moves room to room, walking the theatre throughout. The venue lies outside the north wall, a drive from the old town.

A fortified village in Jiexiu with tunnels dug several levels beneath its lanes. Down there are grain stores, mangers and escape passages to the outside. The tunnels are tight and dark; taller visitors must stoop.

A shrine complex below the hills southwest of Taiyuan, where clay maidservants line the Northern Song Hall of the Holy Mother. In the yard leans a cypress believed planted under the Zhou. It fits on the way between Pingyao and Taiyuan.