Get to know Qixian
Photo adjustments
Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
- Administrative area
- County · 县
- Part of
- Jinzhong
- Chinese name
- 祁县
- Local areas
- County guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 854.00 km²
- Population · 2010 census
- 265,310
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Merchant compounds
The Qiao Family Compound (乔家大院) began in the twentieth year of the Qing Qianlong reign. Zhaoyu Ancient City (昭馀古城) contains the Qu Family Compound (渠家大院), whose features include a five-stage courtyard sequence and a theatre courtyard. The stone carvings at Changyuchuan Tea House (长裕川茶庄) add another example of the old city’s commercial heritage.
Reading the courtyard architecture
Qixian houses commonly have high outer walls, deep courtyards and carved gateways. Stone foundations support finely finished brick walls, with wood, brick and stone carving throughout. Many courtyards are elongated north to south, with entrances at the southeast corner. Single-pitched roofs direct rainwater inward; the high walls provide protection against wind and theft.
Sources for this guide
祁县民居建筑习俗（祁县）（民俗） - 山西省人民政府 · Shanxi Provincial Government
中国城市报-人民网 · China City News / People’s Daily
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-26.
Explore Qixian
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Qixian
A lantern-lined courtyard passage in the Qiao Family Compound, Shanxi. Photographed on 10 September 2017.Qiao Family Compound乔家大院
The Qiao Family Compound occupies Qiaojiabao Village in Qi County and is associated with the merchant Qiao Zhiyong. Its identity comes from a dense arrangement of enclosed residential courtyards, tiled roofs and carefully…
Read the place guide →
Zhaoyu Ancient City · 昭馀古城Zhaoyu Ancient City昭馀古城
Zhaoyu Ancient City (昭馀古城) is Qixian's historic urban centre, where Ming and Qing architecture preserves the setting of a Shanxi merchant town.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Qixian is about 50 km in a straight line from central Jinzhong. Search for 祁县 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Qiao Family Compound and Zhaoyu Ancient City are both listed here. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Jinzhong →More in Jinzhong
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Photo: Qiao Family Compound · 螺钉 · CC BY-SA 4.0. Proportionally resized and converted to WebP without cropping, retouching or changing the photographed subject.
Photo: Zhaoyu Ancient City · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.