Reputed as the “Wall Street of China”, Ming-Qing Street used to be the most prosperous part of the county and the financial center of China. Located at South Avenue in Pingyao, the street stretches 750 meters with almost one hundred shops and local houses.

Walking around the Ming-Qing Street, the the noisiest centre of business in ancient time, you will be attracted by the atmosphere of the flourishing businesses formerly established and the really ancient building designs. On the main street, various shops, firms and banks are scattered, along with a wide range of businesses, including a teashop, cloth shop, salt shop, silk shop, general merchandise shop, hockshop, exchange shop among others. In the past, these shops encompassed involved nearly all fields of commerce including finance, medicine, silk, clothing, fans, lanterns and general merchandise.

These shops in the Ming-Qing Street were all built with bricks and stones completely in the style of Ming and Qing architecture. Nowadays, many shops have been rebuilt as museums or restaurants. Baichuantong Exchange Shop now displays furniture, calligraphy, household utensils and other articles of the previous housemasters. Yonglonghao Exchange Shop has been rebuilt as the national lacquer museum and Yunjincheng Chinese Medicine Shop as Pingyao Traditional Famous Food Restaurant. However, all shops retain their original appearance, the traditional shops and houses are still well preserved, making this street an excellent location to see historic buildings of the Qing and Ming period.