Pinglu Sunken Courtyard

Pinglu Sunken Courtyard

The Pinglu sunken courtyard is a unique type of dwelling found only in the Loess Plateau region of Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, primarily located in Pinglu County near the banks of the Yellow River. It consists of courtyards and cave dwellings built deep underground.

Its distinctive and rare structure involves digging a large, flat-bottomed square pit tens of square meters in size into the ground, usually about 10 meters deep. Then, one bright and two dark-style cave dwellings are excavated into the four walls of the pit, with a sloped passageway on one side for people and livestock to enter and exit. The surrounding walls of the sunken courtyard are reinforced with brick facades, roofed with tiles along the cave edges, and feature cave supports. The caves are equipped with skylights to ensure ventilation. Inside the caves, the walls are plastered with lime and painted snow-white. A drainage well, typically around 10 meters deep, is usually dug in the courtyard. When it rains, water naturally flows into the well, preventing puddles from forming. The water stored in the well helps regulate the microclimate within the courtyard, and can be used to irrigate fruit trees, flowers, and vegetable patches grown there. Due to this localized microclimate, vegetation sprouts earlier, sheds leaves later, and grows lush and vibrant. The air in the courtyard is therefore particularly fresh. The caves in the sunken courtyard remain warm in winter and cool in summer, with minimal seasonal temperature variation, generally staying between 10°C and 20°C. In the scorching summer heat, when surface temperatures are high and dry, the caves stay pleasantly cool and refreshing. In the bitter cold of winter, when the landscape is frozen and snowy, the sunken courtyard caves remain warm and spring-like.

Location: Zhangdian Town, Pinglu County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province

Best Time to Visit: All year round

Opening Hours: Open all day

Admission Fee: Free

Transportation: Take the Yuncheng-Sanshui Expressway, drive for 30 minutes, then exit at Zhangdian Toll Gate and continue straight ahead.

Travel Tips: Pinglu County is located in the southernmost part of Shanxi Province. Just past Maojin Ferry, you reach the border of Henan Province. The terrain here is complex, featuring mountains, plateaus, gullies, and plains. The land slopes from the Zhongtiao Mountain range down to the Yellow River, with an elevation difference of over 500 meters over a mere 25 kilometers from north to south. The area is long and narrow from east to west, stretching 150 kilometers.

Source: Shanxi Provincial Tourism Development Commission