# Rishengchang Draft Bank (日昇昌票号)

Pingyao, Shanxi Province · North China, China · Guidebook rating: 5/5
Canonical: https://cnatrip.com/en/places/rishengchang-draft-bank
Language: en

## Key facts

- **Admission:** Included in the Pingyao Ancient Town combined ticket
- **Time needed:** 1–1.5 hours
- **Address:** 38 West Street (西大街)
- **Good for:** History & Culture, Architecture

## About Rishengchang Draft Bank

Experience the legend of the Shanxi merchants. Founded in the Daoguang era of the Qing dynasty, Rishengchang was China’s first and also largest draft bank (piaohao) handling remittance business. At its peak, Rishengchang had branches in 35 cities large and small across the country, with annual remittance volumes ranging from 1 million to 38 million taels of silver.
Today, Rishengchang is also known as the China Draft Bank Museum. It has more than 20 exhibition halls, broadly divided into a historical display section and a section recreating the original layout, which together trace the development of China’s national banking industry.

## Tips from the guidebook

- Must-see spots at the draft bank
- 1. On the wall behind the “counter,” you will find the rhyming verses created by Rishengchang in its day. They form a cipher used to exchange drafts, with the date, location, amount and other details hidden within. Thanks to this code, Rishengchang has made no errors in more than 100 years.
- 2. Beneath the coal ash in the stove next to the heated kang bed in the “reception room” lies the entrance to Rishengchang’s regular strongroom. Such strongrooms typically held several hundred thousand to several million taels of silver in reserve.

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Source: China Self-Guided Travel 2025 (《中国自助游》, Tianjin Science & Technology Press, Aug 2024), p. 1805. Prices, hours and transport details are as printed in the August 2024 edition and may have changed. Always confirm with the venue before you travel.
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