The Wang Family Courtyard (Wang Jia Dayuan) is a late-Qing merchant's compound — a sequence of four small courtyards, three halls and a private garden, occupying half a city block in the eastern quarter of the old town. The Wangs were a successful trading family active in the salt and silk trades; the house has been preserved much as it was at the end of the 19th century, with original furniture, wooden screens, decorated beams and stone-carved gateposts.
The courtyards are a small but valuable example of vernacular Qing-era urban housing — a building type that has almost vanished from most northern Chinese cities. Information is in Chinese with limited English signage. Allow about 45 minutes; it pairs naturally with a walk through the old town's central streets.