In 1922, the scholar and railway official Chen Heting mobilized local merchants to fund a modern school in Shiping. Completed in 1929, the campus integrated older Qing dynasty structures, including the Shunzhi-era Zhunti Pavilion and Sanfo Temple. To honor Chen, the community built the central Qihe Building, its name meaning "looking up to the crane."

Visitors enter through a Western-style green flagstone archway. Symmetrical, curly-grass iron gates swing open to reveal a path of smooth stone. On the Second Gate, a brick-and-stone structure, the school motto is carved: "Study extensively, inquire prudently, think carefully, distinguish clearly, practice earnestly." This gate bears a stone plaque thanking merchant Zhang Xinzhi for his donation of 12,000 silver yuan.

The main Qihe Building rises twenty-one meters along a north-south axis. The lower floors feature brick walls and twenty-six continuous columns supporting the hip-and-gabled roof. Above them, the fourth floor transitions into a timber-framed octagonal pavilion. This top level features windows on all eight sides, blue tiles, and a three-tiered treasure bottle ornament at its peak.

Behind the tower lies Penzhu Pond, where natural bubbles rise continuously to the water's surface. A single-arch stone bridge spans the pond, its stone railings carved with cranes, deer, and auspicious symbols. Two stone tablets stand by the water, bearing wild cursive calligraphy written by the Kangxi-era scholar Tu Zhuo.

This space has absorbed decades of human activity. In July 1947, the building served as an underground transport station for the Communist Party of China. Today, the first floor houses a party history education base, while the surrounding campus of Shiping No. 1 Middle School echoes with the voices of students. The bronze bust of Chen Heting stands quietly near the Zhunti Pavilion, watching over the school he helped build.