The Old Cheng Jia Yard Folk Custom Guesthouse Pingyao

As our flight out of Taiyuan isn't until 10:30 tonight, we had plenty of time for one more activity in Pingyao. There is an attraction 7km outside of town called Shuanglin Temple (双林寺), so we decided to rent bikes and head out there. Though I've lived in China for a couple years now, I've never actually ridden a bike here because I never considered it too safe. Sure, I saw others do it on the street, but I also saw how the drivers on the street would come ...

... 1000 ans.<br><br>Pas grand chose a raconter cote peripeties, tout se passe pas mal sans problemes. Ici cest plein de foreginers (ce qui n'arrive presque jamais en chine, on en voit pas), et donc la bouffe est adaptee et vraiment succulente. On ne maigrit plus!<br><br>Dans ce qu'on a visite, un village tout a fait authentique, a l'abris des touristes, et un reseau de tunnels souterrains qui servait a proteger les habitants du village en ...

... a ladder to get up there. Once we were up there we had very little room as it right next to the ceiling and a wall one side and a 8ft drop the next. We arrived in Pingyao the next day at about 7:30, but with little sleep. The weather had turned and it was raining, but we cant complain as it was the first rain we had seen rain since arriving. <br><br>The town and hostel that we are staying in is very nice and very tradtional, which ...

... Hoewel ik niet van de lonely planet ben, ben ik blij dat ik in een verloren uurtje in Beijing, het hoofdstuk "Etiquette" heb gelezen. Chinezen geven meestal eerst iets kleins te eten. Dat had ze gisteren al gedaan. Wij wisten niet dat we haar gingen ontmoeten dus konden we op dat moment niets terug geven. Jammer dat ik dit hoofdstuk niet in Nederland gelezen had, dan had ik wat Nederlandse cadeautjes mee kunnen nemen om weg te geven (ook in Japanse Ryokan's ...

... I then made my way to the Chinese Armed Escort Agency Museum which was the biggest waste of time ever. I visited about twelve rooms and most of them had pretty much nothing in them except for some furniture. The plaque outside each door promised that I would feel just like an Armed Escort did way back then. Strangely there were no weapons or even willing vixens to escort. I left feeling very ...

Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya Here I am in Pingyao mate! Supposedly one of if not the best preserved 'ancient walled city' in all of China. Thankfully the once rich Ming Dynasty Merchant town went bust and the 20th Century found it lying in a bed of poverty. Why be thankful? Sounds selfish and it is! As the sands of time fell the city had no money and it couldn't keep up ...

... of cigarettes. He then removed some polystyrene that was behind these boxes and then finally shoved his arm into the dark depths of the upper shelf and produced a plastic box the size of, lets say an Xbox 360. He opened the box to reveal a bounty of every illegal substance that you can probably imagine and in his broken English said "You choose". Astonished and dumbfounded that such a stash could be found in such a quaint little ...

... Pudong? Pudong? Alle rundt ler, og viblir litt stressa. Seinere peker naboen ned i boka mi med kinesisk ordliste med tegn pa setnignen "Jeg forstaar ikke". Paa kinesisk heter det : wo bu dong. Saa flytende kinesisk kan jeg ikke. For aa gjoere en lang historie kort tok turen plutselig 14 timer, og ikke 6 timer som de sa paa hostellet. Vi har kommetoss til Pingyao, og sovet i noen timer. Saa var det en LENGE etterlengtet klesvask, og saa ut paa sightseeing. Pingyao ...

... and some of the more famous escort services are now also museums. These were quite interesting too. There is not that much to do, other than the museums and a couple of temples, but walk around and imagine the hustle and bustle on the streets in its heyday. It has retained some its old feel, and gave us a good idea of what it would have been like during the Qing dynasty. Sadly many of the buildings on the mains North ...

... padded coat, 2 pair of socks, hat, gloves ,scarf, boots....AND IM STILL COLD!!!:) despite the weather, the 13 hour train arrived in Pingyao only 10 mins late! British rail has a thing or two to learn! Our guesthouse here is arguably the nicest place weve stayed in, while it doesnt have a pool like columbia (not that wed be able to go in it even if it did!) the room is en-suite and nicely furnished (not a common theme in youth hostels :) and ...