Museum of Chinese «Xietongqing»Ancient Bank

This bank was founded in 1856 and closed in 1913; his site was occupied by the Chamber of Commerce and after 1949 by a hospital for mothers and children. It is the very best one of Ping Yao, not written on the city map, forgotten by many guides, just find it!
It specialized in foreign exchange, deposits and loans. The six courtyards are nice but the best are the vaults in the basement - don't miss them. After a few rooms with life-size mannequins in period furniture, some points are explained using small scenes in the window where the characters are not more than 10cm. The rules for becoming an employee of this bank were strict; the poor, the illiterate, the elderly, and especially those whose family members had had "bad habits" over three generations, were not eligible for a job. However, the rules were broken for Zhaodepu, a poor man over 30 (so old!) Whose grandfather was drugged. He was so talented that he was hired. In 1900, Empress Cixi en route to Xi'an stopped at Ping Yao and was received in Zhaodepu's house. The latter had since died, but his son received him and to gain his good graces, gave him 240,000 silver liang more than the other banks in the city. She talked about her and their business prospered.