Golden Gulf Hotel Linfen

... point to a wedding ceremony, or at least the part in the wedding where the groom has to perform tasks in order to access his bride. It appears that our groom is already quite fuzzy from too much friendly baijou.


ENTRY BY: Rooster

Despite the cold, I really enjoyed this place... nobody was around it was quaint, old, cultural and off the beaten path. Things just ran slower here and it felt like we were in ...

... so that's OK.





ENTRY BY: Rooster

I want it on the record that Grace was very reluctant in joining in the fun with the martial arts weapons. I urged her to take a weapon in hand and she was terrified about getting in trouble BUT when I reminded her that no one was even present to check tickets let alone provide security, I saw that twinkle in her eye and I knew at that moment ...

... lines have doubled in size, and we're certain there's a corresponding number of Pingyao locals cursing our existence.

On the way back from our ticket adventure, we stumble on a vendor selling mouth-watering sheets of egg-y scallion bread slathered with salty chile sauce. We purchase a steaming bag of starchy goodness, inhale it (barely minus the bag), and trundle back to the hostel for some warm respite.

... streets, shopfronts, and even rooftops fills the air all day. With few tourists to tend to, this has become the daily duty.

The community has come together to deal with the unusual amount of snow, even recruiting five hundred students from the local middle school. They march the narrow streets, all carrying shovels, a procession on a mission. As they pass by me, they shout "hello!", and when I reply, they turn to each other and giggle. I try to coax more English out of ...

... squatties with no doors! Oh the shame! Staying in Fab hostel here. The kind that serves food from a menu in English, has western toilets, free internet and best of all vodka strawberry smoothies!
Love ye all!
Any stories?
Love always
Lucy and Adele. xxx

Pingyao was once the richest city in China, being the banking center to the empire. It fell into obscurity for about 100 years, but now is a major tourist attraction. One of the biggest attractions in Pingyao was US! It turns out we hit the town ast the same time as an international photography exibition and the town was jammed with Chinese photographers ...

... and luxuriant chin coating, and stroke sagely. Whereupon the situation would immediately unravel in everyones favour. By the time we reached Pingyao, which by the way was just as enchanting as we recalled (see previous entry), one full week had elapsed since razor had met with chin. Of course the terrible itchiness had set in, but this didn't ruin the pure enjoyment of getting deliberately lost ...

... yere uzandilar.Trene binmeden once 6 saat boyunca uyuyabilir miyim acaba diye dusunmustum ama yerde oturmak aklimin ucundan gecmezdi. Yol arkadasim Onur bu konforumuzdan pek memnun kalmadi ama ben bu macerali deneyimin hayatta sadece bir kez yasanabilecegini ve bunun tam sirasi oldugunu dusunerek sikayet etmemeye calistim. Tai Shan in eteklerindeki Tai An kasabasina sabah 7 gibi vardik. Istasyonun hemen yanindaki bir misafirhaneye yerlesip oglene kadar uyuduk. Beni bir kac ...

Lehatkovym vlakem jsem z Xianu prejela do dalsiho historickeho mesteska Pingnyao, ktere je take pod ocharnou UNESCA. Centrum mesta je obklopene hradbami a za jednotne vstupne se dostanete do 20 pamatek mesta - prvni banky v Cine, domu mistnich zbohatliku, bankeru, soudu, vezeni, hradeb a vezi. Dumy celem do ulice nebyl nijak zvlastni,ale uvnitr meli vsechny stejne cleneni a nektere i 6 nadvori. Vse jsem zvladla projit za 2dny v temer 40C vedru! hura leto je opet tady..

Pingyao, a tiny town of 40,000 people, is a real gem. It's a walled city, which is always fun to see. Pingyao has somehow stayed under the radar in terms of redevelopment. What that means is that, at least in the center of town, it looks just like it did 500 years ago. Its Qing architecture is what Westerners might think of when they think of old China. If you've seen the film, Raise the Red Lantern you know what I mean. That was filmed in Pingyao. Pingyao is quite touristy ...