The setting up of guild halls in major trading cities had long been a tradition in ancient China, built by merchants from the same areas to accommodate themselves and their hometown friends. The guild halls were usually invested in by the richest of merchants from the region, and were as luxurious as possible in order to compete with the various guild halls of other merchant 'families'.

The Shanshangan Guild Hall (Shanshangan huiguan) is the most luxuriously built building of its kind in Kaifeng. The hall is a perfect example of Qing dynasty (1644-1911 AD) architecture, and was co-built by merchants from Shanxi, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces (hence the name) as a business club.

The guild hall has the structure of a temple, with the Main Hall flanked by minor halls and fronted by the Drum and Bell Towers. The wood carving and sculptured brick roofs are the highlight of these halls. Unlike such art pieces widely seen in Chinese Buddhist temples, however, these carvings and sculptures are themed more after merchant’s preferences, including images like the harvesting, the god of money, symbols of luck, people riding horses and making celebrations.