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Published: August 10th 2007
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Getting off the night train from Xi'an in the small town of Pingyao was quite a shock. We were greeted with the smell of coal and much cooler air. We were glad we had our stylish face masks. After getting off the tuk-tuk we had hired and chilled to the bone from the ride, we found our place on the main street. The city wall we passed through was first built just under 3000 years ago and the ancient city inside was just as amazing. The city inside the wall appeared no different than it would have 500 years ago. After warming up in our room and rock, paper, scissoring for the best bed we set out to look around this ancient town.
The streets were very interesting because every ash laden building sold antiques and bright red lanterns lit up the streets at night. We were the only white people in this town so it gave it a more authentic feel. Our guest house was even in its original state, an ancient courtyard surrounded by carvings and old rock buildings with brightly colored roofs. Everything was so traditionally Chinese. The following day after a good sleep we both rented
Pingyao city wall
first built almost 3000 years ago! bikes from our guest house for the day to see more of the town. Biking down the main street we quickly ran into the 40 foot tall city wall and decided to bike around it to see the whole city. The ride took around 3 hours because we got sidetracked every few minutes looking at all the shops, temples and random cow's sitting in the middle of the alleyways. The city had very few cars because the streets were so narrow, which made biking the best way to get around. We decided to eat at our guest house for lunch because we had previously had bad luck eating on the streets. All the food we found on the streets was deep fried and gross, we actually got a massive plate of deep fried lettuce which was as disgusting as it sounds. Later we ventured out to see some more of the city and found an old man who owned 4 pool tables on the side of the street. We decided to play a game, not knowing it would involve guessing which way the ball would roll after hitting it because of the slants on the table or moving out of
Pingyao city wall
first built almost 3000 years ago! the way for cyclists. The people at our place were very very kind although only two of them spoke a word of English. Later that evening we both taught the daughter of the owner who was probably around 30 how to play chess and talked with her about Canada and China. She even explained to us the meaning of the calligraphy on some of the antiques that Andrew bought. After 3 great days in Pingyao we left by train to Beijing but not before the old lady and owner of the guest house gave us a couple of homemade cookies.
We were both relieved to get two sleeper tickets which were like gold on the train ride to Beijing. If the sleepers were all sold out we would have to have taken the third class tickets, which would have involved standing up straight for the 11 hour ride, crammed into a coach with people, strange smells and animals. The train ride was strange enough with people staring, whispering and laughing at us. When Andrew took off his toque in the train there were gasps and whispers from the people around us because of his blond hair.
Getting
Pingyao temple at night.
See that snow in the air? It's not, its pollution from the coal plants around us! After seeing that, we decided to wear face masks. of the train was difficult because by this time we both had two packs full of stuff, which we carried by putting one on our back and on front. We found our way by bus as well as subway to a great youth hostel with a kind 60 year old dutch couple who insisted on paying for our bus tickets. Beijing seemed much less polluted than we had heard and much warmer too. We were both scared it would be freezing cold but we both managed great. After checking into our hostel, getting clean and doing our wash we went to see Tianmmen's Square and the Forbidden City. Unfortunately the roads were blocked by police who only knew how to say "NO" when we asked if we could visit the square. We decided to make our way back to our hostel only a few minutes away. Later that day we took the subway to go check out a shopping center and were pleased to find it to be just as cheap as Bangkok with a great selection as well! After looking and not buying anything we returned to our room for an early sleep. The following day we went to
Our guesthouse in Pingyao
It was really nice, it had a traditional courtyard setting. The Great Wall of China! It was definitely one of the most amazing things either of us had ever seen. We did a 10 km hike on the wall from one small town to another, Jinshanling to Simatai. We lucked out with the weather, getting the only sunny and warm day out of our five spent in Beijing. The portion of the wall we visited was a 3 hour drive from the big city, which meant that there were barely any tourists. We came across maybe 20 others the whole day, plus it was low season! It truly was a hike due to the steep ups and downs and the poor state of the wall. To top off the experience we ended our great hike high above a river valley and got to zip line down over top of it, arriving at the other side to catch our bus back to Beijing. That night we met a very nice couple, a 23 year old American woman and a 31 year old man from New Zealand. They were sharing our dorm with us and we ended up hanging out with them for our remaining days in China.
The next morning
Our guesthouse in Pingyao
It was really nice, it had a traditional courtyard setting. we decided to try our luck at getting into the Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square and were pleased to find it was open once again. Tienanmen's Square was massive and fun to walk and the Forbidden City was what we both wanted to see. Once inside we were amazed at the size and beauty of the Imperial Palace but were disappointed to see much of it was being restored for the 2008 Olympic games, unfortunately the main buildings we both really wanted to see from the movie hero were covered in scaffolding. We both enjoyed the Forbidden City despite the dreary day but it could not come close to the Great Wall.
The next day we payed a visit to the Temple of Heaven which was very peaceful, colorful and a great break from the big city around it. We decided that night we would go to a nice place to eat and have a few drinks as a celebration for our 4 month trip. We got Peking duck, a few different kinds of dumplings and a heated bottle of Saki. It was a great meal. The service was so amazing that right after we placed our glasses down
Our guesthouse in Pingyao
It was really nice, it had a traditional courtyard setting. they would refill them. The chef came out and asked us how we wanted our duck cut and then sliced it up in front of us. It was delicious and the sauce made it even better!
The following day we did a lot of shopping and got ready to leave!
We are both sad our trip is almost over but are looking forward to seeing everyone at home.
Thanks so much everyone for reading !
Trev and Andrew
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