Home for China’s Most Successful Scholar-traders-----The mansion of the chang’s
The backdated generation of the China’s in Yuci county Shanxi province had ever ambitioned its wealth world wide. By processing tea in the Wuyi Mountain, setting up store in Russia then pushing the businessover to Mongolia and morth Europe through a way of thousands of miles, say the ‘Tea Road’ in centuries, they became the initiator of Sino—Russia Trade, popular in name of ‘Jin Merchant’ with its overwhelming wealth at home.
The secrete for the Chang’s lasting prosperity lies in forethoughfulness, sense of crisis and swot inheritance.A motto of ‘the better the learnt, the better the merchant’ was stuck to by each of their down generation ,assuring successions of the well educated to their business. Beneficial else was their mentality mourished by ethic of Confucianism incorporated with business operation, that essentially paved the way for the Chang’s to grow into a distinguished scholar—merchant family in the ‘Qing Dynasty’ well known both home and abroad.
The Chang’s started its residential construction at ‘Che wang’village since the Dynasty Turnover from ‘Ming’to ‘Qing’, while commerce was glowing together with Confucianism. At the same time ,brothers,ChangWanda and Chang Wanji’-the ninth descendant of the Chang’s brought their business to the peak period. In consequence, their residence construction took to top stage; works by brother Wanji from south to north formed the street called ‘Xijie’ while,the field in north of the village was bought and built into another street by brother Wanda called ‘Houjie’.The two streets were hence said as Chang’s Two—Street.With the following twohundred years of upgrading, the Two—Street holds more than hundred courtyards consisting rooms over four thousand and storied buildings of fifty ,covering a space of 600,000square meters.Halls,stages and pavilions therein were engraved and painted fancily with delicacy and magnificence .So designed existence realized the owners spiritual desire for the ‘Eight—Function’ as are residing, reading, morality nourishing, imagination, viewing, browsing, enjouing and chanting.
Principal part of the complex renewed is of 1.2 million square metres including 1 hill, 1 cabinet,2 lofts. 3 yards,4 gardens, 8 calligraphy copies,9 hall.,13 booths, 25 verandas and 27 houses. What to note is the north side of the 620 meters long street, situated there are courtyards side by side competing not only lyrical with full function but also luxurious in broadness and wideness rendering both overseas company manner. And Chinese traditional courtesy. The cultural elegancy and sincerity of Confucianism can be sensed ubiquitously.Biggest ancestral temple of China is found as well as the biggest family library, maids bedrooms,finest engravings on brick,, wood and stone, most tyoical brocade of ‘Han’ Dynasty,most abundant private collection of calligraphy, household books and paintings. Such a Qing Dynasty architecture provide you with an panorama of grand sight of Chinese folk housing with traditional culture.
The first tea merchant silk road of China
In the middle of the eighteenth century, the demand of Russia and Mongolia for tea got increased with each passing day and developed to such degree that “there would rather be no food any day than there would be no tea”. To open up a new road for engaging in trade, Chang Wanda of the ninth generation has been stationed in K’achta in the border between China and Russia and developed foreign trade.
To ensure the quality of tea and pursue the quality credit, at first Chang’s Family adopted the dragon-like ( series ) mode of tea purchase, processing and transport for sale. That is to say, they purchased tea hills in Wuyi Mountain in Fujian, organized production and set a shop for finely selecting and purchasing tea while automatically setting up tea mill and tea warehouse to process the tea into tea bricks and black tea and properly collect it. In the tea period each year, they hired up to a thousand workers to transport the tea to Hekou by carriages and horses and then transport by boats the tea to Hankou through Xinyang, Boyang Lake and Yangtze River, followed by transporting to Xiangyang along Hanshui River and transshipping along Tanghe River northwards to Sheqi Town of Henan and then carrying on the back of horses northwards by means of caravan to Yellow River via Luoyang, followed by surpassing Taihang and passing Jincheng and Changzhi to Hongkou of Qixian County and further changing to livestock carts to continuously travel northwards and pass Taiyuan and Datong to Zhangjiakou ( or Guihua ), where they changed to camels and traveled to Kulun and K’achta, traveling more than 7000 li in the whole course. Because of breadth of foresight and astuteness and resourcefulness while laying stress on prestige, Chang’s Family developed the business to the territory of Russia north of K’achta, to the 11 cities such as Moscow, Duomusk and novosibirsk and even to other countries of Europe where there were the branches of their tea shops, so that the road of tea extended to more than 13000 li to the real “10 thousand li road of tea”, which was called “the first tea merchant silk road of China” by the later generations.
In such a historic progress, to suit the requirements of situation development, Chang’s Family increasingly set up Dashengyu, Daquanyu, Dameiyu and Dushunyu on the basis of old firm “Dadeyu”, to form the pattern of Chang’s five chain firms entering Russia. Chang’s Family also increasingly set up the firms of “Dachangyu”, “Dashunyu” and other firms, jointly called “Ten Dayu”, with the total number of firms attaining nearly one hundred.
It is just due to the unremitting efforts of the Shanxi merchants with Chang’ Family as representative that the trade of China to Russia developed from 10 thousand rouble in the sixth year of Yongzheng Period to 12.40 million roubles in twenty-first year of Daoguang Period { equivalent to more than 400 liang of silver }, more than one thousand-fold increase in more than one hundred years. As the backbone of tea merchants, the contribution of Chang’ Family can not be covered up. At the same time, by being engaged in such an undertaking, Chang’ Family has early been the first rich family all over the world.
Guide for services in scenic area
Food and beverage: “World’s Cooked Wheaten Food Lying in China; and China’s Cooked Wheaten Food lying in Shanxi.” Shanxi has 10 large kinds of cooked wheaten food: drawn noodles, knife-cut noodles, knife-driven noodles, driven fish, tapered noodles and seized pieces, cat’s ears, river-scooped noodles, rubbed Gedou and naked oats flour roll.
Recommended restaurants: “Chang’s Fu Yu Xiang Hotel”, It is a large-scale tourist reception restaurant assembling the food and drink with local feature and the essence of Shanxi’s cooked wheaten food as an integral. Telephone No.13934185356
Hotel reveration service: Our scenic sport provides ‘levers’ hotel reveration sevice freely in Taiyuan and Yuci city. Telephone No.:0354-2756906
Special memento: Large sale place of Chang’s manor: Situated on the south side of the castle entrance and assembles the famous, excellent local and special products, such as Fenjiu liquor, Shanxi mature vinegar and Fenyang walnut, Chang’s brick carvings, paper-cut ornaments, stele-engraved expanded copies and other featured souvenirs, tourist books, audio-video products and other tourist commodities, totaling several thousand kinds. Telephone No.13935409204
The nearby scenic sports: 260km from Wutai Mountain; 30km from Jinci Temple; 18km from Yuci Old City; 80km from Pinyao Ancient City; 28km from Qiao’s Grand Courtyard; 110km from Mianshan Mountain; 114km from Wang’s Grand Courtyard..
Traffic: Chang’s manor is located in Chewang Village of Dongyang Town, 18km south of Yuci District, Jinzhong City, 38 km from the center of Taiyuan, the capital city of Shanxi Province, 25 km from the expressway exit at Taiyuan-Wusu flyover, 10 km from the exit of Dayun expressway and 28 km from Taiyuan airport. You can attain here along No.108 national road and may also take Chang’s manor tour bus or take No.901 public traffic bus in Taiyuan to the terminal in Yuci and then change to No.12 public traffic bus to here.
Ticket Reservation
WeChat Sweep
