To get to Pingyao from Beijing we took the train firstly to Taiyuan, which took around three hours; we were able to book these tickets through our hotel in Beijing. Taiyuan, being the provincial capital with Shanxi, was as hectic as you could possibly imagine, and we fast became quite the spectacle in this place, especially with what they would have probably considered excessive baggage. Before too long we were off again for the second, hour long train ride. Somehow we had acquired top level sleeper tickets for the short ride, so I craned my neck and nestled between our backpacks on the top bunk (which was quite a struggle reaching as the bunks are three tiered), so that I could be out of the way and out of view from the curious local people, who
... read more