It is said that Shiping County was built on a big god turtle shell that was floating on the surface, penetrating through the shell and entering water layer. Thus, every city resident dug into a well, northwest of one feet under the city, southeast of three to five feet under the city, and then after cutting through, water would be inexhaustible. Every well in the city was interconnected that the bucket one owner accidentally left would be sought in the other owner’s well after a few days. It is said that the five wells in the east, west, south, north and middle were the five pillars to prevent the turtle from going back to the sea. Today, all five wells still exist, and the water in the five wells was the best natural brine springs for making Shiping tofu in the six years. The tofu which was made by such water was delicious, thus, its reputation spread far and wide.

Shiping not only has picturesque scenery but also has a long history.

According to records, Shiping belonged to Chu in the Qin dynasty, and belonged to Shengxiu County in Han Dynasty. In 752, the Yi ancestors dug the land and formed Shiping, then it was named as Shiping City due to people’s gathering. In 1270, the Shiping state was set, under the jurisdiction of Lin’an Road of Yunnan province. In 1385, it was renamed as Shiping State, under the jurisdiction of Lin’an government. The Qing Dynasty followed the system in the Ming Dynasty, thus, in 1755, it was under the command of Lin’an government. In 1913, it was renamed as Shiping County, initially under the jurisdiction of Mengzi Channel, then channel was abolished and Lin’an Commissioner government office and Shiping county was under the jurisdiction of it. 

In the long history of over two thousand years, Shiping ancient city has created a brilliant cultural performance, which laid great emphasis on education since the Yuan Dynasty, and then there were 10 academies of classical learning, dozens of private schools and free schools until the Ming and Qing dynasties. Court historian residence, official in the highest imperial residence, General residence, guancha residence, government of imperial affairs and private gardens were full of beautiful things in eyes. Some experts called Shi Ping ancient city as the museum of residential buildings in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Shiping has a long history and culture, and men of talent come out in succession. The ancient sages created a splendid culture, leaving behind a wealth of valuable cultural heritage. In this magical land, there are both provincial scenic areas of natural beauty like Yilong Lake and provincial historical and cultural city like Shiping and many antique buildings in the provincial historical and cultural village like Zhengying since the Ming and Qing dynasties. What’s more, there are Xiu Mountain, Wen Temple, former residence of Yuan Jiagu and many other 40 provincial, state, county-level cultural relics protection units, which present a splendid sight. The economic champion Yuan Jiagu in Yunnan, member of the Imperial Academy Xu Helai, Zhang Han, famous photographer Yang Chunzhou, famous Li writer Li Qiao and many other historical and cultural celebrities constitute a unique historical cultural landscape of Shiping County.