A few days chilling in Pingyao

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We arrived in Pingyao at 00:35 after an 8 hour ride on a hard seat from Datong.if anyone has travelled in China they will know that 8 hours sitting down is a stretch, but 8 hours literally being crammed into your seat, surrounded by Chinese gawping at you, basically sitting on you and constantly waving their bare arsed babies in your face (whilst we waited to get weed on as they generally just hold them in the aisle to do their business) is no easy ride but is definitely an experience. Although after meeting a fellow traveller later in the hostel we found out that it could have been worse - he had a standing only ticket for 9 hours and unknowingly sat in the smoking area for the whole time!!!

Anyway the journey was pretty unforgettable but as it approached midnight we thought we would be prepared and get up so that we had to time to clamber over all the passengers asleep on the floor in the aisles. We looked along the carriage and decided one end seemed less crowded so made our way to the door. Pete got out of his seat pretty easily, me however suddenly had 3 chinese women (who had been standing for 8 hours) fighting over our two seats and somehow all three had already sat in them before I had got out. With 3 people sitting on me and my bag and pete already half way up the aisle I heaved myself out from underneath them just about without flying face first into the aisle. I stepped over loads of people knocking them all with my bag and waking them up as I made my way through the carriage. Unfortunately when we got there we realised that many people were asleep in the doorway so we stood as close as possible for when the train stopped.

After 15 mins or so the train came to stop and we tried to fight through the swarms of people blocking us in. The locals looked somewhat confused at us trying to get past and kept shaking their heads. After a minute or so we realised the door at this end was not being opened and we instead had to exit at the other end of the carriage. The first thing I thought was there is no was I'm staying on this train for another hour to end up god knows where so picked up my rucksack and run down the carriage treading on about fifty or so Chinese people. Considering, 1) I was treading all over them and 2) I woke them all up again from previously making my way to the wrong end, they didn't seem that bothered and some even helped me get my bag over. We eventually made our way to the other exit just in time as the steps were being pulled up and the train was just about to go..... We were very relieved once off the train.

It was pitch black and not a person in sight on the platform and we were just praying that for once we would make it to our hostel without getting lost. Luckily when we got out the gates a man was waiting for us. We hopped into his little tuk tuk and made our way to the hostel. He was driving rather erratically (worse than me!!!!) and had no lights on so we didn't have a clue where we were headed but eventually he stopped and led us through a little courtyard and to a room - which was our room. We didn't need to check in till morning so made the most of it and went straight to sleep, it had been a long day.

In the morning we woke ready to experience the sights of Pingyao. We went out and explored the city walls, basically walking from one end to the other (mainly because we were looking for a bank). The streets are pretty much what you would expect China to look like - lined with little red lanterns and hundreds of tiny shops, restaurants and cafe's. we experienced some local street stall food which was interesting (not always sure what I'm eating so just have to get on with it). After all the walking we went back to the hostel for a bit and bumped in to our friend Gill (who we met in Beijing), also staying in our hostel. We sat chatting through where we were thinking of going next and basically tried to decide how we were going to get to the next few places.

After all the planning we were starving so we went out for dinner, taking Gill with us. We stumbeled upon a little restaurant with a good picture menu. We ordered a range of dishes, all of which were delicious, washed down with a couple of beers and a good chat.

The second day we did much the same as the first (minus looking for a bank). Pingyao is a lovely, quaint city but there isn't really much to do here (especially in the freezing cold) other than just stroll around and look at the shops and eat food. We booked our train to Shanghai for 4 days time after deciding that although a big journey across to the other side of china for just a couple of days, we really didn't want to miss it. We ate out again this time opting for a different restaurant and the food was fantastic. I ordered chicken in cashew nuts and have never tasted anything like it so much flavour. Pete had a beef and tomato soup which was huge and should have been enough, but typically we ordered far too much so he also had the local dish of Pingyao beef.

All in all Pingyao was a great place to take a few days out relaxing and recouping from all the exhausting long journeys and we would recommend it to others on their way through to Xi'an.

Tips:

Bring cash, although there is one bank (ICBC) that accepts international cards. It's just outside the city walls of the west gate.

dont stay too long despite what the lonely planet says about wanting to stay here forever, there really isn't a huge amount to see but it is worth 1-2 days on your way through to Xi'an.

Most attractions in China offer huge discounts for students (up to 50%) therefore become a student for the time your here, if you get my drift!!! Checking of the student card seems lax - nothing ventured, nothing gained - wish we had!!

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Photos

Pingyao streets
Typical local in Pingyao playing some music