Pingyao City Wall
First built about 2,700 years ago, the ancient city wall was expanded in the Ming Dynasty. It was the best-preserved wall among the ancient historical and cultural cities in China. The one that stands now was built early in the Ming Dynasty and is 12 meters high with an average width of five meters. Its body is rammed earth strengthened with a covering of bricks. There are crenels, a water drainage system and the top is floored with bricks. Outside the city wall there is a moat four meters wide and two on the west and one on the south and one on the north. All the gates project outwards and have two doors each.
The city has resulted in the name of "Turtle City" with two gates on the south and north representing the head and tail of the turtle and four gates on the east and west the four legs. The two doors on the south or on the north stand opposite to each other, like the head of the turtle extending out and two wells just beyond southern gate are like a turtle's two eyes. The outer door of the north gate turns east like the tail of a turtle turned to the right. There is a tower at each gate and seven-meter-high towers at each corner. Along the wall there are platforms 50 meters apart, 3,000 crenels on the outer wall and 72 watchtowers.
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