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Michael Reynolds, 26, is a resident photographer in Beijing. He was born in the American state of Ohio and came to live and work in China after receiving a Bachelor in Fine Arts from the University of Cincinnati in 1999. Ninety kilometers south of Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province, lies a small town of 40,000 people, the town of Pingyao. Pingyao is known for three historical treasures: the ancient city wall, the Zhenguo Temple, and the Shuanglin Temple. Construction of the city wall began during the Western Zhou Dynasty (C.1100-771 B.C.) but in its present state, it was mostly finished during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Upon completion, the wall was a massive ten meters tall and six kilometers long, the greatest wall in Shanxi at the time. During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Pingyao reached the height of its stature and was nicknamed "Little Beijing." It became the banking headquarters of China and had 22 different banking firms. The leading bank, Rishengchang (Shining Sunrise) was established in 1824 and had branches in 45 Chinese cities as well as New York and San Francisco. Today the architectural structures of Pingyao remain mostly unchanged and provide a rare window into the buildings and life of the Ming and Qing dynasties. As recently as two years ago, before Pingyao's inclusion into popular travel books, the town was virtually unknown to foreigners, but in 1997 Pingyao became the first place in China designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a World Cultural Heritage. The town's renewed fame has awakened the interest of Chinese tourists. Pingyao is just an overnight train ride from Beijing, and the convenient location will make the town an attractive destination for travelers. My stay in Pingyao left me with indelible memories of the friendly people and traditional courtyard houses with local features, not to mention a funeral procession unlike any I'd ever seen before. A very old local woman with six grown children had died just a few days before my arrival. Her family members didn't have enough money for a proper funeral so the entire community chipped in and covered the expenses, probably at an enormous cost to themselves. Many of the people made magnificent garlands that could stand over nine feet tall when propped up. The people's support of one another reflected a closeness that seemed as old as the Ming Dynasty thresholds upon their doorsteps. While I was walking along downtown Mingqing Street (named after the Ming and Qing Dynasties) it struck me that the absence of electric lights, which were all turned off at sunset, made it almost impossible to tell during which century I was visiting Pingyao. I left the street with a deep sense of mystery as I went on my way to another fascinating place nearby. ?¨º?¡ìChina Pictorial 07/25/2001?¨º?