Beijing to Xi'an (with a little Pingyao)

---

We've taken a little bit of time out from the scorching heat of Xi'an to update you with our progress since leaving Beijing on Thursday night...
We took the 'hard sleeper' option overnight to Pingyao, southwest and inland from Beijing. We booked our tickets easily the day before from the ticket office inside Beijing Central Station (the lady at the far right booth spoke English :-)), and got onto the train without any real fuss. The West station (where we travelled from) is very well organised and felt more like an airport with baggage scanners, ticket checks etc... Don't be put off by the crowds in the gate waiting area - ticket checks are thorough and no-one will nick your seat!
The sleeper berths are interesting - 2 beds wide and 3 beds high, they are like open-plan hutches. Chinese prefer the bottom beds (slightly more expensive), and will sit there regardless of whether it is their seat! Don't worry though, they should clear off when the lights shut off at tenish. Middle bunks are the best. Some of the people you meet on the trains are very nice, and if you can muster the strength, trains are potentially very sociable places with plenty opportunities to whip out the phrase book!
We were shepherded off the train at Pingyao by Wang, our soon to be shifty guesthouse proprietor. He gave us a free lift in to town and provided us with a room for a very reasonable Y60 (about 4 pounds). It was in a Ming style, but in the middle of being refurbished, so it was somewhere between full on Ming splendour, and just ming; if you get my drift.
By midday we were well and truly Pingyao-ed!! It is a picturesque and interesting place for a couple of hours, but being an official UNESCO walled town, it is also a big tourist trap, mainly for Chinese tourists who see it as some kind of pilgrimage destination. They barrell around the little streets chasing there flag waving and PA yelling tour guides, leaving no stalls unturned in their relentless mission to P-I-N-G-Y-A-O-O-O-O-O!!
That said, there are some treats to be found. The government buildings and gardens en route to the West gate provide a peaceful and organised respite, but I would recommend NOT following the arrows, because you will get swept along with the tide of tour groups - go your own way.
Possibly the nicest place we discovered was the Yamen Hostel (www.yamenhotel.com). Located pretty much next to the government place, it is newly opened, so not in any of the guide books. Currently they only have double rooms, which seem to be the usual Y140-160, but dorm rooms from Y20 are planned. The Ming courtyards are beautifully presented and the place ticks all the boxes in terms of facilities, but more importantly the staff are extremely helpful, especially the manageress (we think her name is Candy). It is a fantastic place to chill-out, have a beer, use the internet and meet other guests (or information tourists like us!!). They can also arrange train tickets - so don't be too quick to do what we did...
From Pingyao we were heading to Xi'an, again by hard sleeper. It does seem impossible to buy tickets from the station in Pingyao, so we needed someone to arrange it for us - cue Wang and his broad "my friend can get you ticket" smile. And so we found ourselves standing on the platform two minutes before the train was due with one Wang, and no tickets. Ten minutes later, after Wang had paid off half the train staff, and produced his own bunch of keys to the carriages, we were in! We still didn't have tickets, and when Alasdair demanded he produce them, he bolted off up the carriage, paid off another guy, and ran back waving metal dog-tags which he thrust at Alasdair before jumping off the train as it pulled away - to his credit, he produced the goods, and smiled the entire time.
Now we're in Xi'an and, amongst other things, we are going to try and extend our visas. Depending on how long that takes we will see the Terracotta Warriors, and maybe climb Hua Shan. So far the place looks pretty prosperous and upbeat, with a Gucci or Luis Vuitton boutique on almost every corner. Just a shame it's so HOT!!!
We'll be in touch from Chengdu in a few days time, hopefully.
Ciao!

---

Comments

[OB]

You look more like a chinese orphan than they do! Sutherland, sort yourself out.