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Bec
*NB no spell check on this site - apologies now for the speeeling.

So now its my turn to write a little bit about our next stop after Beijing... Pingyao.

I thought I would offer you a few facts about the place to set the scene, its about 12 hours on a very slow overnight train from Beijing. Pingyao is in the middle of the Shanxi province in the centre of China, was built in 200 AD and is better know for being a merchent trading centre in the 1300's where Chinas first bank was opened.

The lonley planet touted it as a 'an excetionally well preserved traditional Chinese city, a glimps at imperial China, ' so we thought that will do after bombing about Beijing for a few days.

I'll keep this entry brief as I am hungry and we only stayed one night!

So our overight train arrived in Pingyao at about 5.30 am. This was our first stab at overnight train-ing it and it was actually not to bad. We opted for the second class hard sleeper because it was cheep and a horizontal option. We were on the top bunk of three (six beds in each cabin) and apart from a woman below me snoring like mad it was all ok.

We had booked to stay in a YHA hostel in Pingyao back in Beijing, and they had agreed to meet us from the station when we arrived(complete bonus as we were not expecting it). So when we arrived at 5.30 am David and I were keeping a keen look out for a little man waving a Bec and David card..... ummm no man.

No prolem, they must have forgot us, so we got a lift with a local taxi man who did'nt have a taxi he had what can only be described as a golf buggy. So the next thing we wizzing through the old narrow streets in a golf buggy, holding onto our packs, its pitch black and really cold, but never mind as we will soon be in our walm YHA hostel.

Our man drops us off, after asking if we will go and stay in his mates hostel instead, and we give a little polite knock on the YHA door... nothing happens, so we give a harder knock and we hear a girls voice say something in Chinease that sounds like the eqivalent of f*(k off in English.

So we wait for an hour and a half in the cold waiting for the lazy tart to get out of bed and let us in. Eventually the lady from next doors papershop (well hut selling bottles of pop and a few mags) takes pity on us and bangs really hard on the door so droopy draws climbs out of her pit and lets us in looking all sleepy and dopey.

We pay for our room (big mistake) and then the missery takes us to our room which is colder than it is out side (by this time its about 7.30 am) The room is off a beautiful courtyard, but smells like a nursing home blocked toilet.

I could go on but to cut a long story short we dumped our bags and went for a potter (and a mince about the last 2 hours) and to find another place to stay that was warm and did not smell of p!ss. As it happened the place was accross the road, so a bit embarrasing for us having told missery woman that the reason we had to leave Pingyao there and then and need our money back was because we were getting the next train out of town...

Anyway after the odd start we soon got warm in our new pad, which was lovely, even a little table on the bed with a couple of cups for brews...

So we spent the next 30 hours pottering about this quaint old city (built in 200 BC) walked around the city walls (6k) eating at dodgy cafes (one had dog and donky on the menu, didn't ask for them but probably got them anyway) and scoffing lots of cakes from the many bakerys that line the street (along with people selling more Mao watches, little red books etc...). We also popped into a few court yards and got a feel for a traditional Chinease city.

At night we met some brits and a really nice American, so we tucked into some Chineese beer at about 60p a pop for a huge bottle in a nice WARM non SMELLY tea house - good work


Right I'm going to go and get some fodder now, but before I do I would share a couple of funny moments with you. Every where you go in China there seems to be about 5 members of staff in a hotel to one of you. In Pingyao the girls in the guest house were so interested in David and I (because we were the only guests - its low season, and also because were so tall).

In the morning we had a massive snooze in (due to the overnight train and hadn't really slept the night before) When we left our room at noon they laughted thier head off as David whacked his head on the door asking him if he did that because he is very 'high' and also said 'I think the English sleep alot'.... ummm.

When we left the hostel to go to the station we gave them some dried fruit to say thanks for having us and thanks for not shouting at us from breaking a cup, also for sharing their lunch with us (we had breakie in the hostel - dumplings and spicey pickle, they were having thier lunch so they gave us some too!). We were really keen to make a quick quiet exit as lazy tart girl from across the way in smelly YHA hostel had been freeking us out and we felt bad about our sharp exit the previous morning.

Anyway, having said goodbye, we were then offered a lift to the station in the local police car, very low key, then the whole hostel continues to line up outside the place (about 10 of them) and wave us off.... YHA lady was stood at the window... OUCH.

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