At home with change (2)

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Ji Taiping believes such residence's disappearance would be tragic. He points out Pingyao's future will be determined by what its ancient houses contain - its people.

Pingyao was settled in the Western Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century- 771 BC) and expanded to its present scale in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It became the country's financial center during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), when it housed 20 financial institutions - more than half the nation's.

It was the headquarter of the country's first bank, Rishengchang, which controlled about half the national silver trade in its golden age.

Pingyao's architectural legacy was largely built upon this commercial prosperity.

The city remains among the world's best-preserved. The city wall is the crown of its imperial history, but its jewels are the more than 3,700 ancient houses studding the 2.25 square kilometers the bulwark sheaths.

However, the tourist throngs who come to marvel at the architectural treasure trove have inadvertently brought tarnish to the private homes as some locals renovate their houses into larger hostels to make money.

Others simply leave their houses to decay because ancient structures' renovations cost about twice as much as modern concrete buildings'.

That's where the new model came in last year. It's devised to encourage individual families to invest while the government and World Heritage Fund subsidize renovations' finance and technical management.

The deal is available to any private owner of a house with historical value, intact structure and clear ownership. Houses renovated through the project can't be used for commercial purposes.

"They were built for living in and will be renovated for the same purpose," Ji says. "Life in Pingyao will go on and the city will have a future only if people are willing to stay."

Liu Chuanjing has lived in his courtyard since 1943. The tiled roof leaked, the walls were cracked and the pine gate was rotting.

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