After our second back to back night train in a row we pulled into the ancient town of Pingyao at 06:06am.
Yawning and bleary-eyed we were met by the driver from our great little courtyard guesthouse, which offered a free pick up from the station (located just outside the north gate of the old city). We checked in and took the opportunity to have a few more hours kip so we'd be ready for touring the sights of Pingyao on foot.
Pingyao is one of China's best preserved ancient towns and is situated in Shanxi state, South of Datong. It is surrounded by a 6km city wall which dates from 1370 and as lined with 72 watchtowers. Part of the southern wall which collapsed has been re-built but the rest, so we understand, is original and perfect for walking around.
We had read that Pingyao is a great place to wander and explore its small streets, courtyards and ancient buildings. We gave ourselves a day and a half to discover the secrets of this place, though to access the old buildings and walk the wall, you had to fork out 130 yuan (ticket valid for three days), or half price for students (yay!).
With 22 historical sights and museums included in the ticket, as well as access to the wall there was a lot to cover. We headed off down the streets lined with shops (selling all the tat that you can think of) and small food stalls selling local sweet pastry biscuits (great for a snack). As ever, we wanted to get the most out of our ticket so headed into as many of the 22 sights as we could...including...
Rishengchang - the first draft bank in China (1823) which was so successful it had 35 branches nationwide at its peak. This was our first introduction to the long courtyard buildings typically found in Pingyao. They are usually formed of two courtyards (one after the other) with a series of rooms/buildings on each side and a final backyard courtyard. The courtyards are intricately designed with wooden carvings and sweeping roofs. Most places had intro info boards with English, but apart from that English was a little sparse.
The courtyard pattern continued at Wei Tai Hou Museum. We weren't quite sure what this one was about, but it was nice to explore the rooms and get even more of a feel for how the Chinese once lived in this old city.
We discovered that banking and the escorting of money seemed to be a big thing in Pingyao. We headed next to the Xietongqing Draft Bank (1856) which had a similar set up to the previous bank, only this one you could access the underground vaults. You could see the (faux) gold and silver ingots that would have been stored here and lots of old notes and coins.
We took the chance to stop for a quick local noodle lunch at Tianyuankui Guesthouse and had their local meat noodle broth. Pingyao seems to have a thing about making their noodles with a vegetable peeler - ending up with bits of noodles that resembled small odd shaped potato peelings you get when you are in a hurry! They were very tasty though and a good cheap choice.
Our afternoon was spent discovering some of the other non-banking related sports. Firstly the Ancient Government Building, which we did a whistle stop tour around. The rooms were filled with lots of dusty furniture (this seemed to be common across tourist sights in China) and into the most unique part - the prison.
Next we found the Chenghuang Temple known as City God's Temple. It is focused on a yin yang arrangement which we discovered lots of within the confines of the temple courtyards.
The Confusian's Temple opposite was a larger complex and with Pingyao's oldest surviving building (1163), the Dachang Hall, where bureaucrats-to-be came to take their imperial exams.
After a quickly popping out of the South Gate to take in the view of the towering wall, we headed back up South Street stopping off at a few of the less important but in some cases much more interesting sights.
These included the Chinese Rare Newspaper Museum housed in a courtyard building, containing copies of Chinese and international newspapers showing important points in Chinese history.
The Baichuan Tong Merchants Furniture Museum, which, for the first time all day, and potentially China to date, was well laid out for a museum and not dusty! Despite the Chinese only information panels and the subject being a little bland.
We ended our day with the Tongxinggong and Chinese Armed Escort Museums. The term escort relating to the movement of important goods (including money from the banks) by trained Ninjas, not the other type of escort! The backyards of these were used as training grounds and some of their training equipment was on display!
Realising that we could only access each sight once via the scanned bar code on our tickets, we decided to leave the wall for the next morning. After so much walking we had earned our 10 yuan beer and some decided to eat some more local noodles (Mountain noodles) at Dejuyuan (aka Petit Resto) before calling it a night.
Our fast train to Xi'an was at 2pm so we only had the morning to see the rest of Pingyao. After a good nights sleep in a rather hard Chinese style bed, we headed straight to the north gate of city wall (closest to our guesthouse) to go for a walk. We walked anticlockwise round as far as we could before the restoration work on the eastern side stopped us from finishing our loop.
The wall, at an average height of 10m, gave us a different perspective of the city. We could look at the courtyards and rooftops away from the tourist streets, providing an insight into the everyday lives of those living in the city.
Given world heritage status in 1997, the wall is well preserved and a nice gentle stroll for a morning. We stopped to take in various watch towers and the more dominate gates in the North, South and West.
With a couple of hours left we popped into the only residential building that you can enter on the ticket - the former residence of Lei Lutai, who again was linked to finance. It was another courtyard building, but interesting non the less.
Finally we popped into the Erlang Temple on our way back to our accomodation to pick up out bags. It was another intricate zen temple and it was interesting to watch people pray and look at the ornately designed roofs and carving.
Our favourite part of Pingyao was exploring the streets themselves. Discovering the small back alleys with washing hanging out to dry, the ladies rolling out dough and cooking local spice filled pastries. The elderly sitting in their chairs watching the world go by and the groups of men gathering tightly around a tense board game being played on the side of the street.
It was a great place to people watch, and to see (and laugh at) the hoards of Chinese tour groups as they tried to navigated the streets not on foot but by electric buggies. They really do take over areas of the old city.
We felt a day and a half was plenty to get a good feel for Pingyao. After another tasty local noodle dish at our new favourite spot (Dejuyuan - Petit Resto) we headed back to pick up our bags and catch the 108 bus to the new high-speed train station in the south of the city.
Next stop...Xi'an, travelling on a bullet train at an average speed of 240 km/h!
Yawning and bleary-eyed we were met by the driver from our great little courtyard guesthouse, which offered a free pick up from the station (located just outside the north gate of the old city). We checked in and took the opportunity to have a few more hours kip so we'd be ready for touring the sights of Pingyao on foot.
 |
| Pingyao |
Pingyao is one of China's best preserved ancient towns and is situated in Shanxi state, South of Datong. It is surrounded by a 6km city wall which dates from 1370 and as lined with 72 watchtowers. Part of the southern wall which collapsed has been re-built but the rest, so we understand, is original and perfect for walking around.
 |
| The wall |
We had read that Pingyao is a great place to wander and explore its small streets, courtyards and ancient buildings. We gave ourselves a day and a half to discover the secrets of this place, though to access the old buildings and walk the wall, you had to fork out 130 yuan (ticket valid for three days), or half price for students (yay!).
With 22 historical sights and museums included in the ticket, as well as access to the wall there was a lot to cover. We headed off down the streets lined with shops (selling all the tat that you can think of) and small food stalls selling local sweet pastry biscuits (great for a snack). As ever, we wanted to get the most out of our ticket so headed into as many of the 22 sights as we could...including...
Rishengchang - the first draft bank in China (1823) which was so successful it had 35 branches nationwide at its peak. This was our first introduction to the long courtyard buildings typically found in Pingyao. They are usually formed of two courtyards (one after the other) with a series of rooms/buildings on each side and a final backyard courtyard. The courtyards are intricately designed with wooden carvings and sweeping roofs. Most places had intro info boards with English, but apart from that English was a little sparse.
 |
| A typical courtyard |
The courtyard pattern continued at Wei Tai Hou Museum. We weren't quite sure what this one was about, but it was nice to explore the rooms and get even more of a feel for how the Chinese once lived in this old city.
We discovered that banking and the escorting of money seemed to be a big thing in Pingyao. We headed next to the Xietongqing Draft Bank (1856) which had a similar set up to the previous bank, only this one you could access the underground vaults. You could see the (faux) gold and silver ingots that would have been stored here and lots of old notes and coins.
 |
| The vaults |
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| Gold! |
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| Thats a lot of gold |
We took the chance to stop for a quick local noodle lunch at Tianyuankui Guesthouse and had their local meat noodle broth. Pingyao seems to have a thing about making their noodles with a vegetable peeler - ending up with bits of noodles that resembled small odd shaped potato peelings you get when you are in a hurry! They were very tasty though and a good cheap choice.
 |
| The modern Chinese tourist... watch that selfie stick! |
Our afternoon was spent discovering some of the other non-banking related sports. Firstly the Ancient Government Building, which we did a whistle stop tour around. The rooms were filled with lots of dusty furniture (this seemed to be common across tourist sights in China) and into the most unique part - the prison.
Next we found the Chenghuang Temple known as City God's Temple. It is focused on a yin yang arrangement which we discovered lots of within the confines of the temple courtyards.
 |
| Ying Yang |
The Confusian's Temple opposite was a larger complex and with Pingyao's oldest surviving building (1163), the Dachang Hall, where bureaucrats-to-be came to take their imperial exams.
After a quickly popping out of the South Gate to take in the view of the towering wall, we headed back up South Street stopping off at a few of the less important but in some cases much more interesting sights.
 |
| An old building in Pingyao |
These included the Chinese Rare Newspaper Museum housed in a courtyard building, containing copies of Chinese and international newspapers showing important points in Chinese history.
The Baichuan Tong Merchants Furniture Museum, which, for the first time all day, and potentially China to date, was well laid out for a museum and not dusty! Despite the Chinese only information panels and the subject being a little bland.
We ended our day with the Tongxinggong and Chinese Armed Escort Museums. The term escort relating to the movement of important goods (including money from the banks) by trained Ninjas, not the other type of escort! The backyards of these were used as training grounds and some of their training equipment was on display!
 |
| Nice hiding place |
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| Jules in training to be a Ninja! |
 |
| Mountain noodles... surprisingly tasty |
Our fast train to Xi'an was at 2pm so we only had the morning to see the rest of Pingyao. After a good nights sleep in a rather hard Chinese style bed, we headed straight to the north gate of city wall (closest to our guesthouse) to go for a walk. We walked anticlockwise round as far as we could before the restoration work on the eastern side stopped us from finishing our loop.
 |
| The city wall |
 |
| Going for a walk around the wall |
The wall, at an average height of 10m, gave us a different perspective of the city. We could look at the courtyards and rooftops away from the tourist streets, providing an insight into the everyday lives of those living in the city.
 |
| Views across the roof tops |
 |
| Interesting views |
Given world heritage status in 1997, the wall is well preserved and a nice gentle stroll for a morning. We stopped to take in various watch towers and the more dominate gates in the North, South and West.
With a couple of hours left we popped into the only residential building that you can enter on the ticket - the former residence of Lei Lutai, who again was linked to finance. It was another courtyard building, but interesting non the less.
 |
| Hello Jules |
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| another courtyard building |
Finally we popped into the Erlang Temple on our way back to our accomodation to pick up out bags. It was another intricate zen temple and it was interesting to watch people pray and look at the ornately designed roofs and carving.
 |
| Busy streets |
Our favourite part of Pingyao was exploring the streets themselves. Discovering the small back alleys with washing hanging out to dry, the ladies rolling out dough and cooking local spice filled pastries. The elderly sitting in their chairs watching the world go by and the groups of men gathering tightly around a tense board game being played on the side of the street.
 |
| Interesting street food |
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| Spicy snack |
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| Street food! |
It was a great place to people watch, and to see (and laugh at) the hoards of Chinese tour groups as they tried to navigated the streets not on foot but by electric buggies. They really do take over areas of the old city.
 |
| Traffic jam! |
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| Our accommodation |
Next stop...Xi'an, travelling on a bullet train at an average speed of 240 km/h!
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| Off we go to Xi'an |
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