Zhongdu Hotel Pingyao

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 ...

... synagoge. We waren in Woestijnen, tropische regenwouden, toendra, bergen en steden. We aten Chinees, Russisch, Fins, Mongools en Amerikaans eten. We reden in ritsjka's, bussen (buswrak in het geval van st petersburg - Novgorod), treinen, taxi's, vliegtuigen, jeeps en op fietsen. Maar een ding hebben deze drie landen gemeenschappelijk en dat is dat er ongeloofelijk behulpzame vriendelijke en lieve mensen wonen. <br><br>veel liefs! <br><br>Wim en Leen

... up coming that way.<br><br>Half an hour passed and no success. A brand new Nissan SUV pulls up. There a man and a woman getting out. I walk over to the woman thinking that if we can convince her then the man's got no excuse! The license plate is from Beijing, we strike up that we're from Beijing, filming a documentary for the Travel Channel. She's heisitant and says she wants to think it over lunch inside. Liu Chang and I ...

... wij. We zijn dus ingestapt. En inderdaad: de nieuwe taxichauffeur nam het over een reed ons voor de afgesproken 35 euro in anderhalf uur (keurig aan de regels houdend) naar Pingyao. Pingyao is een prachtig stadje. Alles is middeleeuws (ook onze hostel, de douche is van net iets voor die tijd volgens mij ;-)). Het is hier heerlijk. Er mogen geen auto's rijden. Het heeft een stadsmuur en binnen de muren is het een kilometer bij een kilometer. De taxichauffeur heeft ons afgezet ...

... to record the license plate of the van. This might sound paranoid, but students of mine have been mugged in a car like the one we were taking. All the other people were men. Not that this means anything, but it tends to put me more on edge in that kind of situation (although people like the Bernies proved quite nicely that having another woman present is no reason to let down one's guard). I didn't realise that 2 of the 3 men in the van were passengers. I hunched over in the back and ...

... drama 'Wild Jujubes' The story takes place in the years between the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China. The Yin Family, the most prosperous household in the central region of Shanxi Province, is declining with only two members left - a sick and widowed Mrs Yin and her son, the retarded young master. The head rfarmhand of ...

... of courtyards, each with its own kitchen yard and private school yard. In the middle sector are two main courtyards and Beiwei Yard. In front of the main yards is a long alleyway measuring 127 meters (about 417 feet) in length and 11 meters (about 36 feet) in width. To the northeast is a small side-yard while in the southwest there is a large side-yard. At the four sides of the East ...

... more successful (i.e. he's a hairy beast!). There are quite a lot of historic buildings and temples (Taoist and Budhist) to see in Ping Yao - all very interesting but a bit samey after a while) and everything is in easy walking distance. We walked around the city on top of the wall - a casual 2 hours. It was really nice being above everything, out of the way and Chrissy loved noseing into people's yards and watching people eating their lunch! There is ...

... tower in the middle of it all. Its about as large as a two-storey house. The whole place is like a museum. In fact you can but a ticket that will get you into about 20 different locations 'hidden' around the city. These vary from old temples to old houses. There are courtyards that lead into other courtyards that lead into.....well, you ...

... from it all inside. A large part of that was due to the rather fantastic Yamen hostel. One of the most comfortable, relaxed places I've stayed, with lovely cosy sofas and a good restaurant (even serving dog - it tastes a bit like corned beef, prepared Pingyao style; that is, raw). It was a bit of a struggle to ever leave that place to explore town, and having such a good group of people there was a bonus. There were even a couple of familiar faces ...