Blogs from Pingyao, Shanxi, China, Asia - page 3

Pingyao is an ancient Chinese city surrounded by the original walls built over 1000 years ago. Only one section of wall had to be rebuilt after a portion collapsed a few years ago. We wanted to spend some time in Pingyao mainly to break up our long trip from Beijing to Xi'an and unwind after seeing Beijing. Once we arrived, we checked into our hostel and, as usual, hit the streets. The main streets are lined with vendors that at first glance appear to have fantastic genuine Chinese relics. Old chess boards, coins, tools etc. blew us away until we realized every store has the exact same things and they weren't really as old as they looked. There was also an abundance of stone carvings, jade jewlery/statues, and tour groups. Pingyao really is beautiful. We escaped ... read more

Pingyao is a small fortressed city inbetween Beijing and Xian。We took a sleeper train from Beijing at midday and arrived in Pingyao at around half 2am。　Ｗｅ　ｈａｄ　ｏｒｇａｎｉｓｅｄ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　ｈｏｓｔｅｌ　ｔｏ　ｐｉｃｋ　ｕｓ　ｕｐ　ｓｏ　ｗｅｒｅ　ｇｒｅｅｔｅｄ　ｂｙ　ａ　ｔｕｋ　ｔｕｋ　ｄｒｉｖｅｒ　ａｔ　ｔｈｅ　ｓｔａｔｉｏｎ　ｗｈｏ　ｓｕｂｓｅｑｕｅｎｔｌｙ　ｔｏｏｋ　ｕｓ　ｔｏ　ｔｈｅ　ｈｏｓｔｅｌ　ａｎｄ　ｗｏｋｅ　ｔｈｅ　ｎｉｇｈｔｗｏｒｋｅｒ　ｕｐ。Ｗｅ　ｗｅｒｅ　ｐｌｅｓｅａｎｔｌｙ　ｓｕｒｐｒｉｓｅｄ　ｔｏ　ｆｉｎｄ　ｔｈａｔ　ｔｈｅ　ｏｗｎｅｒ　ｈａｄ　ｕｐｇｒａｄｅｄ　ｕｓ　ｆｒｏｍ　ａ　ｃｈｅａｐ　ｄｏｒｍ　ｒｏｏｍ　ｔｏ　ａ　ｌｏｖｅｌｙ　ｄｏｕｂｌｅ　ｒｏｏｍ　ｗｉｔｈ　ａｉｒ　ｃｏｎ　ａｎｄ　ｔｈｅ　ｂｉｇｇｅｓｔ　ｂｅｄ　ｓｐａｃｅ　Ｉ　ｈａｖｅ　ｅｖｅｒ　ｈａｄ。　　The　ｆｏｌｌｏｗｉｎｇ　ｍｏｒｎｉｎｇ　ｔｈｅ　ｏｗｎｅｒ　Ｂｏｂ　ｗｈｏ　ｓｐｏｋｅ　ｉｍｍａｃｕｌａｔｅ　ｅｎｇｌｉｓｈ　ｏｒｇａｎｉｓｅｄ　ｏｕｒ　ｔｒａｎｓｐｏｒｔ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　ｆｏｌｌｏｗｉｎｇ　ｄａｙ　ｔｏ　Ｘｉａｎ。Ｉｔ　ｗａｓ　ｔｈｅｎ　ｔｉｍｅ　ｔｏ　ｄｏ　ａ　ｌｉｔｔｌｅ　ｅｘｐｌｏｒｉｎｇ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｅ　ｔｏｗｎ　ｗｅ　ｈａｄ　ｃｏｍｅ　ｔｏ　ｓｅｅ。　　To　ｖｉｓｉｔ　ｐｒｅｔｔｙ　ｍｕｃｈ　ｅｖｅｒｙｗｈｅｒｅ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｃｉｔｙ　ｉｓ　ａ　ｏｎｅ　ｏｆｆ　ｐａｙｍｅｎｔ　ｏｆ　１５０Yuan，　ｗｈｉｃｈ　ｗａｓ　ｒｅａｌｌｙ　ｗｏｒｔｈ　ｉｔ。。。　ｅｖｅｎ　ｔｈｏｕｇｈ　ｔｈｅ　ｓｉｔｅｓ　ｗｅｒｅ　ｑｕｉｔｅ　ｓｉｍｉｌａｒ　ａｆｔｅｒ　ａ　ｗｈｉｌｅ。　　Ｔｈｅ　ｃｉｔｙ　ｈａｓ　ｓｏ　ｍｕｃｈ　ｃｈａｒａｃｔｅｒ　ａｎｄ　Ｉ　ｆｅｌｔ　ｓｏ　ｍ... read more

My last day in Pingyao was an anthropological session. I immersed in the Chinese ceremonies. At least in the onces in this area.I witnessed a Marriage and a Funeral today. I will tell you what I learnt. As you probably know RED is the most common color here. Why? It a color that mean good luck and prosperity, in the second stage of importance it comes the yellow which mean loyalty (like their flag and the communism symbols, a coincidence?) Anyway, in weddings everything is full of RED and YELLOW. It is very interesting because the couple goes in a red car with flowers on in (plastic ones!) and behind the relatives and friends follows them also in red cars. There are gold yellow ribbon all around. The funeral was a more impactful ceremoy because it ... read more

Pingyao is a commercial and touristic place. Not much of real China today. Is a city behind the walls, like in the old times. Very pretty, very crowed. It has performers paying by the State or the City to do public shows all around. We arrived to the hostel, Jean, Florian, and I, and took a cozy breakfast. I ordered the Israeli options because it seems that it had not meet. Well, it is an egg under a pomodoro sauce full of spice things that I do not recommend. Florian is the son of Jean, in his 30 traveling the first time with his father in the middle of his 50. They get alone well, and make a funny duo. Florian is the one that wants to try local things and mingle with local people. He ... read more

The 380km drive from Datong to Pingyao should have been a relative breeze, but the whole team is exhausted and driving started to transform from pleasure to pain. Still, we reached the Ancient City of Pingyao at around 2:00pm, and the pain was soon forgotten once we saw what an incredible place this was. We checked into the Pingyao Yiguan Guesthouse within the Ancient city before heading down the colourful streets. The guesthouse has all the warmth and charm of “Old China” at only $52 a night. As for Pingyao, I would probably say that any visitor to China should make the effort to put this wonderful city on their schedule. We spent 4 hours walking the streets and sampling the street foods and then headed off for a wonderful dinner at the Tian Yuan Kui ... read more