Pingyao - Friday 8th July

0730 in the morning and we were sat on the back of a stretched electric golf cart going from the Pingyao station to the Yide Hotel inside the 4m thick old city wall. Golf carts are the favoured form of public transport in Pingyao.

The hotel is a converted old merchant courtyard residence. It looks better than the pictures on the internet. Very very old Chinese style.

We couldn't check in till 12 so had a really good breakfast in the hotel and went out for a look around this fascinating old town.

We wandered around the ancient streets lined with ancient buildings,some of which have been converted into shops, restaurants and hotels. It's like walking through a living breathing museum.

Visit the Pingyao Webcam

We climbed onto the city walls via the North Gate and walked 2 of the 7 kms on top of the wall to the East Gate. Great views across and into the town and its maze of streets and alleys.

Just along the road we stopped to look around the Qing Xu Guan Taoist temple where Eva received an unsolicited blessing from a monk and was promptly asked for 100 Yuan (£10)!

Eva did admit to feeling spiritually better after the experience so it was money well spent ;-).

Enjoyed a delicious Chinese beef hotpot, full of fresh thick noodles and vegetables, for lunch before going back to the hotel to get our rooms.

Our room was amazing,at the end of the inner courtyard. Large, with a high vaulted ceiling and what can only be described as a bed in a box and a bathroom disguised as a double wardrobe.

Dominic had a separate building on the roof, 2 storeys high with a bathroom downstairs and bed upstairs.






After a refreshing shower we went off to see more of the cities historic sights including the first bank, first armed guard office and the Confucian Temple.

First Securicor van

Confucian Temple, Pingyao

Had dinner in a very stylish Relais & Châteaux restaurant with great food, but it was so westernised it felt like being in a Chinese restaurant at home, with prices to match!

By the time we got back it was very dark and it didn't take much imagination to see shadows of Ninjas (or the Chinese equivalent of Kung Fu trained Shaoling monks) leaping across the rooftops and alleyways. Then again it could have been the beer ;-)