Juren Hostel Pingyao

Hi all!
Pinyao was beautiful! Absolutely freezing cold though! Hat and scarf and ten layers kind of cold! How unexpected! I've a rucksack full of bikinis :) Hope John Cotters got some thermal fleeces ready for South America! In China loads of the couples wear matching t ...

I had a place picked out in Pingyao to stay that I had found in the Lonley Planet book. What good luck that the owner comes to the train station every morning to greet people and offer them a room. Harmony Guesthouse is so wonderful and Sarah and Jackie (their English adopted names) are very friendly and helpful. It has a very hostel feel to it and everyone who stays there becomes part of the family.

As usual I slept poorly on the ...

... Putzfrauen schon im Zimmer waren, nichts gefunden haben und die Sache weg ist. Diesmal hatten wir aber mal Glueck und der Ring hing noch immer am Haken im Bad!!!

Wir wollten aber weiterhin noch am gleichen Tag nach Pingyao aufbrechen und die Fahrt sollte immerhin 8 Stunden dauern, so hiess es keine Zeit verlieren, weil es nicht so toll ist erst mitten in der Nacht anzukommen. Da der Bus nicht wirklich die erste Wahl war, haben wir uns erstmal um ein Bahnticket ...

... tot het internationale/niet-chineze nieuws. Op veel plaatsen hebben we geen toegang tot BBC websites en geen Engelse kranten.We kunnen ons de ongeruste berichten van het thuisfront voorstellen. (zeker omdat jullie wel dagelijks door de media op de hoogte worden gehouden en daar waarschijnlijk ook beelden bij zien. Die laatste hebben wij zowieso niet). We hebben vandaag de nieuwste krant gezien (die was van 25 april, dus nog niets bekend). We hebben begrepen dat veel mensen ...

... then blamed the inflated price on freight, at which point I realized I was way too wound up and was being a ***** by taking out my minivan angst on him. I professed the beer to be worth the 8 RMB, we smiled at each other and got to the business of hot pot.

The next morning, I was in a good enough mood to admit that Pingyao was very cool. Lots of beautiful buildings and lanterns, but it is all being strangled in a coal caused smog. It sticks daggers in the throoat, there is no ...

... stop me. I had my damn City Pass and that made me special! Plus it was raining and the main south gate was way up that way and I was way down this way. It only made sense to leave via the closest gate! After a quick search down the little alley ways on both the left and right of the main buildings I found myself in familiar grounds and was surprised to find myself exiting the Theatre Hall ...

... cheap. Be sure to ask about the price of any chef's specialities, and take a look at the bill as you are ordering your food. The past prosperity of Shanxi lies in Pingyao while the soul of Pingyao lies in its Old City. There is no charming landscape, green mountains or clear waters. What's unique here is this well-preserved ancient city with its grand, solemn city wall ...

... of us so we shoved our faces into our books to make it all stop. The hostel we were staying at in Pingyao was an old governor's house. It was all very old with red lanterns hung about and a quaint courtyard where throughout the weekend we would find ourselves in. The slow pace of life was a welcome change from the breakneck pace of Beijing. The people were also extremely friendly, another nice change, and all the smiling faces reminded me of home ...

... throwing bricks at the street lights and every now and then actually hitting one. I watched for a while, remembering how as a youth I never did anything like that. I then gave a whistle and watched them jump. Finally one of them spotted me, decided I was harmless and they said hello.....before they carried on with their business. Some ...

Adam here, whilst casually walking along in a nonchalont manner :D an old chinese man, fell off his stool he was sooo busy staring at us instead of concentrating on the difficult task of sitting! Later on a young girl (8'ish) forgot how to walk at the sight of us and promptly fell over! We are having a strange affect on the chinese :) Pingyao has continued to be a really nice place if youre in china its worth popping in for a couple of days :D Oh yes lest I forget, Pingyao has ...