Rishengchang Exchange House

日升昌票号

Founded in 1823, China's first remittance house pioneered long-distance exchange under the motto “Remittance Throughout the Land.” Its three-courtyard house-and-shop compound is now the China Remittance House Museum.

Rishengchang is on West Street in Pingyao. It was founded in the third year of the Daoguang reign (1823) by the Li family of Dapu Village, Pingyao, with Lei Lütai as chief manager. It was China's first remittance house specializing in exchange. At its peak it had branches in 35 cities across the country, and its business reached as far as Japan and Russia. Known as “Remittance Throughout the Land,” it dominated the financial system for nearly a century in the mid-to-late Qing, until it closed in 1914. The compound faces north and has three courtyards in two wings, covering about 1,600 sq m. The street-front shopfront holds the counters and accounting rooms, where you can see the silver vault, bills and displays of the secret-code rules. Using lines of poetry as anti-forgery codes on drafts is the most fascinating point of the tour. The middle courtyard holds the Xinfang, the managers' council room, and the reception hall. The rear courtyard housed the owners' quarters and the treasury, and the upper floor had staff dormitories. Today it is the China Remittance House Museum. Its 21 galleries use objects and recreated scenes to show the rise and fall of Shanxi merchant remittance houses. A visit takes about 45 minutes to an hour. A guided tour, or following a tour group, is recommended for the secret-code stories. Admission is included in the Old Town pass. Along West Street are also the Xietongqing Money Shop Museum (where you can enter the underground vault), Weitaihou Remittance House and others, which can be visited together. Tips: the narrow wooden interior gets crowded, and queues form at busy times. Do not touch account books or other artifacts.

Rishengchang Exchange House

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