In the mid-eighteenth century, the Qing government demanded a steady flow of copper to Beijing for minting coins. The mountains of Dongchuan Prefecture—modern-day Huize—held vast reserves of the metal. Merchants from across the empire converged on this remote southwestern outpost, transforming it into a booming industrial hub. To protect their trade interests and maintain ties to their homelands, these regional syndicates poured their wealth into monumental guild halls. Side by side on Xizhi Street, the Sichuan and Shaanxi Guild Halls stand as enduring records of this copper-fueled prosperity.

Constructed in 1752, the Sichuan Guild Hall occupies a 2,500-square-meter footprint arranged strictly along a north-facing central axis. Visitors enter through a combined gatehouse and theatrical stage, a classic feature of Qing-era merchant architecture where business and entertainment intersected. Beyond the stage, the complex unfolds through a central hall, flanking side halls, and a commanding rear hall. The timber-and-earth structures feature sweeping hip-and-gable roofs supported by traditional post-and-lintel framing. A 2011 restoration rescued the complex from decay, preserving the spatial hierarchy that once dictated the social order of the Sichuanese merchants who gathered here.

Just steps to the east, the Shaanxi Guild Hall offers a different narrative of survival. Built two years later, in 1754, it originally dwarfed its neighbor, sprawling across 5,000 square meters. It served as the headquarters for the powerful Shanxi-Shaanxi merchant syndicates, who eventually established specialized flour and cloth guilds within its walls. The twentieth century brought severe alterations. After the founding of the People's Republic, commercial authorities repurposed the site, dismantling most of the original structures to build a department store warehouse.

Today, only the central hall and its attached rear pavilion remain. These surviving structures command attention. The central hall’s flush-gable roof and deep eaves shelter a space where merchants once negotiated massive copper shipments. Look up to see the surviving ceiling paintings, their historic pigments interrupted by patches of white plaster from modern repairs. These restored fragments, funded by a 2012 conservation effort, offer a quiet record of the building's endurance. Together, the Sichuan and Shaanxi Guild Halls map the trajectory of Huize’s history, from the heights of the imperial copper trade to the pragmatic repurposing of the modern era.