A Little Peace and Quiet in Pingyao

We escaped the Beijing madness to a small and relatively quiet town called Pingyao, west of the Chinese capital. It is an ancient walled city, left as is from several centuries ago (apparently it is the only one in China completely preserved). There are no modern buildings within the walled part, only old Chinese shops and doorways leading into decrepit courtyards. There are a few main streets that intersect each other, where most of the traffic - pedestrians and bicycles as no cars are allowed - flows along, and tons of small alleyways, all put together in a tidy grid pattern.

One of the courtyards in our hostel

We spent two nights and three full days here, but the weather didn't exactly co-operate. The city was fog-shrouded so we didn't bother to walk along the top of the wall, since the view was non-existent. This is one of the highlights of Pingyao, so it was too bad we didn't get to do it, but at 120 yuan ($16) per ticket, it wouldn't have been worth it. So instead we satisfied ourselves with just walking the city streets and enjoying the old architecture. Yvonne has also been under the weather a bit, so it was some much needed down time to collect ourselves and kick our feet up, and not feel like we had to rush around.

The West Street

Even though they have done well to preserve the originality of the place, this isn't to say that they haven't caught on to tourism. At all times of the day, large masses of Chinese tour groups wander around, interspersed with the odd Westerner. The big streets are lined with people selling all sorts of old souvenirs on tables, shops from which the merchants yell at you "Hello! Please come inside and look", and guesthouse restaurants that look like they were all made from the same template. The town is best enjoyed at night time, when the avenues are lit up by red lanterns hung from shop fronts and the gates and towers are illuminated with strings of white lights surrounding the edges.

Doorframe and courtyard in hostel

Our hostel (Yamen Hostel) was fantastic; it had character oozing out of every crack. The building is a former Qing residence (a governor's) and filled with inner courtyards. We are now on our way to Xi'an, south of Pingyao, which is nearby one of the most famous of all China's attractions: The Terracotta Warriors. We are really enjoying our time in China and our travels are just flying by. The countdown is on; we have our flights already booked to Brisbane, Australia on January 10, which leaves us with just under two months left to see more of China and parts of Southeast Asia. There is never enough time. Wherever we go, we find ourselves constantly saying "we have to come back!" Oh well, such is life!

Woman and her bike (and a stray dog)

The West Street again

Pingyao walls

Yvonne having a rest

South Gate tower

Night scene

Red lanterns

City Tower lit up

Hostel common room