Blogs from Pingyao, Shanxi, China, Asia - page 10

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Asia » China » Shanxi » Pingyao October 13th 2006

Vrijdag 13 oktober. Na een goede nachtrust op een kang (bedoven) in het Yamen hotel (jeugdherberg) - we mochten zelfs uitslapen, afspraak voor het ontbijt was pas om 8.00 uur - permitteerden we ons een uitgebreid ontbijt (Amerikaans, Engels of Zwitsers) aan 18 yuan per persoon. We moesten wel even wachten omdat we niet gereserveerd hadden, maar dat hadden we er graag voor over. Na dit lekkere, uitgebreide ontbijt waren we voldoende aangesterkt om Pingyao van alle kanten te gaan bekijken. Startpunt was het YAMEN, het vroegere regeringsgebouw waar we in de Court Hall onmiddellijk getrakteerd werden op een toneeltje ‘rechtszaak’. Alle Chinezen moesten er hartelijk om lachen. Wij waren al blij als we met de hulp van Berna en Wim nadien het verhaal een klein beetje konden reconstrueren. En dan het bezoek aan de gebouwen ... read more
Ontbijt.
Toneel rond vroeger rechtspraak: der rechter geeft het vonnis.
Martelwerktuig voor ondervragingen: de ereplaats.

Asia » China » Shanxi » Pingyao October 8th 2006

Heute bin ich in Pingyao angekommen. Ein kleines Staedtchen mit nur 40.000 Einwohnern. Eine wahre Oase, nach Peking. Die Stadt ist mit einer Mauer umgeben, die sie frueher vor Ueberfaellen schuetzte. Die UNESCO erklaerte sie zum Weltkulturerbe. Hier fuehlt man sich wie vor 150 Jahren, alte gemauerte Haeuschen mit vielen kleinen Gaesschen, Autos und Taxis gibt es nicht, duerfen hier nicht fahren. Am ersten Abend war ich beim Essen, sass da und eine chinesische Familie gegenueber von mir. Sie sprachen mich an und luden mich an ihren Tisch ein. So assen wir gemeinsam, unterhielten uns mit Haenden und Fuessen und mussten viel lachen. Irgendwann fragte mich der Grossvater der Familie ob wir nicht ein Foto machen koennten, weil so eine grosse Frau sieht man nicht alle Tage... Das ist mir bis jetzt schon ein paar Mal ... read more
Pingyao
Shuanglin Temple
Pingyao

Asia » China » Shanxi » Pingyao October 7th 2006

Pingyao ist eine Besonderheit, da der gesamte Stadtkern aus dem 19. Jahrhundert komplett erhalten ist. Unesco laesst gruessen. Nur wenige Haeuser haben mehr als zwei Stockwerke. Grosse Beschreibungen gibt es hier nicht, die Bilder sprechen fuer sich. Mit einem alten Chinesenrad bin ich die 5 km zu dem Kloster Shuanglin Si getreten. Hier wurde mir wieder mal bewusst wie es haette sein koennen wenn ich alles mit dem Rad gefahren waere, was mal eine Zeit geplant war. Die Luft steht vor Kohlenstaub, schon morgens Smog, trotz der nur 40000 Einwohner. Die LKW's nehmen keinerlei Ruecksicht, hupen auch noch. Ach ich bin froh mich dagegen entschieden zu haben. Auch im Hinblick auf die Ausmasse des Landes. ... read more
Pingyao
Pingyao
Pingyao

Asia » China » Shanxi » Pingyao September 28th 2006

Pingyao is such a great little town! We are enjoying ourselves immensely here. This morning we woke up and pulled back the curtains to see the entire place covered in fog (real fog, not smog). We dressed and headed down to order some breakfast. Our guesthouse is certainly one busy place! There were streams of other travelers coming in with reservations. The owner has a brother who owns another guesthouse 2 buildings down and he sends Chinese guests there (the owner of our guesthouse speaks very very good English, his brother speaks none) and he was taking a lot of guests down there because his place is full! We ordered some dumplings and scrambled eggs and settled down with some tea to watch the commotion. We spoke with a fellow Canadian (Montreal) who was overjoyed to ... read more
Surrounding the city
South Gate
Pingyao Kitties!

Asia » China » Shanxi » Pingyao September 27th 2006

The train journey from Datong was surprisingly empty, Faye and I had an entire compartment to ourselves so we slept soundly to our next destination. The only problem was that the train we were on didn’t stop there. We were told in Datong that we would have to leave the train at Taiyuan and then go to the bus station to catch the first bus in the morning to Pingyao. The bus station was a short cab ride away from the train station and we shared it with a couple we met in Datong (Jennifer & Steve) who had the same itinerary as us. We caught the bus to Pingyao (2 hours) and were dropped off just outside the city walls. We later found out that you can easily get a train from Taiyuan to Pingyao ... read more
Pingyao
Pingyao
Shuanglin Temple

Asia » China » Shanxi » Pingyao September 26th 2006

Monday September 25, 2006 - Our train didn't actually go to Pingyao directly. Instead, we arrived in Taiyuan around 5:30am where we had to catch a bus to Pingyao. The bus didn't leave until 7:30am and it took a few hours to get there. We found out later that we could have taken a train, quicker and cheaper, but what was done was done. Pingyao is a very quaint small town, with the old city being contained within 6km of city walls. It has kept it's 19th century looks and is quite cute. We started walking around, looking for one of two hostels. Along the way we were asked to come in and look at one in particular. We did and we ended up staying. It was actually rather cute inside and it was a good ... read more
Flying colors
Wall top temple
Taxi ride

Asia » China » Shanxi » Pingyao September 8th 2006

Well yet again I've fallen behind in updating my blog, so apologies for that - guess I've been having too much fun ;-) . I've just left China for Viet Nam to meet some good friends from home who are on their hols - so writing this from hot 'n sweaty Hanoi. I'm heading back to China and Tibet afterwards to do some more travelling, before finally heading south again, Australia-bound. Anyway, back to China, one of the maddest, most manic, frustrating yet at times peaceful and rewarding countries I've ever visited. From the minute I crossed the border from Mongolia on the train, you're aware of just how many people there are in their teeming millions. After waiting at the border for the wheels on the train to be changed (the Mongolian and Chinese gauge ... read more
Buddhist Monk Praying In The Forbidden City
View Of The Entrance To Forbidden City From Tiananmen Square
A Musical Singalong At the Temple Of Heaven

Asia » China » Shanxi » Pingyao August 18th 2006

in the evening i had to leave pingyao and although i wouldn't have known what else to do in this town and i knew it was the right time to leave i got a little bit melancholic. from everywhere i got offers to get a ride to the railway station and the further i came the cheaper the offers got. i just felt like walking, it felt like the right way to leave pingyao. after a while i even started to feel a little bit selfish that i did not give any of these guys the possibility to earn some money but the more people asked me the more stubborn i got and the more i wanted to keep on walking. it has been a nice day, although it was pretty claouded and fog had been ... read more
destroy pingyao city
donkey
city wall

Asia » China » Shanxi » Pingyao August 17th 2006

i woke up at 6.30 or so and started with some coffee and cookies again. after an inspection of the bathroom, i decided that i could skip the shower. just brushing the teeth next to this stinking hole that's supposed to be the toilet actually was unpleasant enough. then i went to the train station and without any problems got on the train to pingyao. i had a bed, which was quite useless, since i wenty away at 9 in the morning and the journey did not even take 2 hours. i seated myself next to the window and was busy with watching the landscape, reading, making travelplans when a cheery looking chinese started waving at me and showed me that i could sit right next to him. so i did. soon we found out that ... read more
market
sun flower
market street

Asia » China » Shanxi » Pingyao July 17th 2006

Our arrival in Pingyao was some what of a group effort. Having stepped out of the train station exit at Taiyuan (because the first bus to Pingyao did not leave for two hours and was four kilometers away), we started to consider our options for making the lengthy trip. As we stood, more and more bemused backpackers started to appear from the very train that we had just come from. Eventually we started to talk to one another and some of us started to research the alternatives. The local train became our responsibility, whilst other people looked into cabs, buses, bicycles or donkey. Ultimately one chap negotiated an excellent deal (30 Yuan each) for all of us to be taken to the very walls of the city by minibus. Our little group had swollen to 16 ... read more
A Hutong before Renovation
A Hutong after Renovation
Business Street from the Tower




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