The alternative Shanghai

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Shanghai 2010. The Expo. 180 days of all other countries in the world exhibiting trinkets from their country. to date, 70 million visitors. I'm guessing that's around 400,000 a day. So it was little wonder that we couldn't get a train ticket to Shanghai for another two weeks.

We decided instead to head somewhere completely random and we found ourselves in the small town of Pingyao. By small, we're talking Chinese small, so it's actually about the size of Swansea or Watford. Two things to note about Pingyao; first of all, it's freezing. And secondly, as our hostel owner said when we checked in; "Two nights is enough".

As it was, we really enjoyed the time there. It was quiet, pleasant, friendly and we were able to wander around hassle free and enjoy a bit of rural China.

Our second day we went to see an underground castle. Sounds odd. It is. But true, the castle is about 1300 years old and has tunnels that lead 15km away. That's half the Channel tunnel! As an alternative to Shanghai, Pingyao will do just fine.

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