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The High-Speed Railway in China
Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway
Shanghai-Hangzhou Intercity High-Speed Railway
Beijing-Tianjin Intercity High-Speed Railway
Zhengzhou-Xian High-Speed Railway
Wuhan-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway
Hainan High-Speed Railway
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway
How to Book Train Tickets Online
Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway
Shanghai-Hangzhou Intercity High-Speed Railway
Beijing-Tianjin Intercity High-Speed Railway
Zhengzhou-Xian High-Speed Railway
Wuhan-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway
Hainan High-Speed Railway
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway
How to Book Train Tickets Online
Who Were Jin Merchants
In Ming and Qing Dynasties, Jin Merchant(晋商, Merchants of Shanxi province) was the typical representative in the economic development history. Roughly, the whole history was 500 years. Jin merchants mainly managed the salt business, and money transfer business, and the main business of Jin Merchants was money transfer, the traditional private or collective-owned organ for loaning, and financing, which was quite similar to the function of today’s bank. Dated back to Sui and Tang Dynasties, one of the forefathers of Jin Merchants was honorably called Warrior Huo, and the financial support of the rebel of Empress Wu’s father as well as Li Yuan and his sons was greatly from Jin Merchants, exactly a wood merchant with the surname of Wu. Via the best troops and the sufficient financial support from Wu family, Li Yuan and his sons obtained the regime of Sui Dynasty, and Wu family also got a large deal of profit from his original investment and this investment also made the appearance of Empress Wuzetian. The origin of the success of Jin Merchants is from their honesty and dependability, and the representative of Jin Merchants in the summit period was Qiao Zhiyong(乔致庸). And the reason for Jin Merchants’ declination in later Qing Dynasty and the period of The Republic of China is also quite complicated. The status of Shanxi province in history of Chinese economy also descended. But there is also a historical fact that Dowager Cixi once borrowed money from Qiao Family to pay the national debt, and this means the power of Jin Merchant though it has declined.
In modern China, Kong Xiangxi(孔祥熙, the leading official-background merchant), Li Yanhong(李彦宏, the CEO of Baidu.com) and Guo Taiming(郭台铭, a famous merchant from Taiwan) perhaps the representatives of modern Jin Merchants. In fact, the authoritative merchants of Jin tried their best to build a better living environment, but it does not mean that all the compounds of Jin Merchants were well preserved. Many of them have been largely ruined. Since 1980s, after the resurfacing and reconstruction, there are five compounds opened to the public. These large building complexes are the best way to understand the glory of Jin Merchants. These compounds include The Compound of Qiao Family in Qiaojiabao Village, Qiao County, The Compound of Qu Family in Qiao County, The Compound of Shen Family in Changye, The Compound of Wang Family in Lingshi and The Compound of Chang Family in Yuci Dongyang Town. By the way, the villagers’ residences of Ding Village, Huangcheng Xiangfu(皇城相府), Sanduo Hall of Cao Family and Former Residence of Yan Xishan(阎锡山) are also quite attractive.
