The hall was built jointly by businessmen from Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces in the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). During that time business in Sheqi Town was flourishing and the town became a gathering place for businessmen from nine provinces. The Sheqi-Shanshan Assembly Hall was a product of well-developed business in the early Qing.

Covering an area of 5,473 square meters, the hall comprises the front, middle and back courtyards. Constructions built on the central axis include the Glaze Zhaobi, the Iron Mast, the east and west outer gates, the bell and drum towers, the Xuanjian Building, the east and west corridors, the east and west wing halls and the Dabai Hall. The overall arrangement of the assembly hall is complete and symmetrical, following the typical style of Qing architecture. The Xuanjian Building was an opera tower whose construction work began in 1796 and lasted 25 years. The 30-storied building is decorated with wood and stone carvings, and the stage, built on the north side, has horizontal tablets suspended above that read Xuan Jian Building in three gilded, handsomely written characters.

The Dabai Hall is the main construction built between 1869 and 1892 The hall is 34 meters high, 23 meters long and 45 meters wide, with a double-eaved roof and side rooms. The roof is covered in green glazed tiles and beneath the eaves are wood-carved legendary figures from stories such as Record of A Journey to the West and Gods' Stories. The hall is divided into a front hall, which was used for banquets, and back hall. A red-palpus dragon with shinning golden scales and red-crowned phoenix with colorful feathers snake around the red columns. Two huge stone screens at 2.5 meters each were erected in the front of the hall. The story illustrated on the east screen tells of 18 scholars paying homage to Yingzhou; the west one describes lives of fishermen, woodcutters, farmers and students. Part of the assembly hall was burnt down during the Japanese bombing of 1929, but it was restored following the founding of new China.