Four hours away from Beijing on the bullet train is Pingyao. Pingyao is a large modern city, with a beautiful ancient walled city within, that was founded in the 14th century. The well preserved walled city has attractive courtyards, pleasing towers and temples, and alluring alleyways filled with red lanterns. The streets and alleyways are fun to walk around. There is plenty to see and do to keep you busy there for 2-3 days.
When we arrived at the Pingyao train station we had a taxi driver pick us up. The taxi was prearranged with City Wall Courtyard, (hotel). It cost less than $6.00. We were dropped off right outside the city wall, and Mia from City Wall Courtyard was there waiting for us. We walked about 3 minutes to the hotel.
Our hotel used to be a grand courtyard mansion. Mia told us the history of the 500+ year old mansion. Drew and I were staying in the room upstairs, above what would have been the parent’s room. Our room was for the owner’s daughters. Mia pulled out a city map and gave us lots of good, useful information. She also informed us that since we were both 60 years old we could get the the 3 day city pass for free. That saved us $40.00. She also recommended 2 restaurants. One of her restaurant recommendations was Petit Resto, which was one we had heard about. It is a small family owned restaurant.
The first afternoon we went and got our free tickets and walked around the walled city and visited the Cheng Huang Temple
Lots of shops were selling black vinegar to the tourists. Black vinegar is a specialty for this region.
For dinner we went to Petit Resto. Their menus were in English and they also had pictures of their food. We ordered the Mountain Noodles and fried eggs with chiles, plus 2 sodas for a total of $7.49. The food was really good!
For our 2nd day in Pingyao we started out the day with a large Western breakfast at our hotel.
We walked on the outside of the walled city.
We climbed to the top of Xun Gate.
We strolled through the Confucius Temple.
We visited the Xie Tong Qing Draft Bank.
In some of the countries we visit we feel like celebrities, especially Drew with his beard. People will stare at us and sometimes they will want to have their pictures taken with us.
The Ancient Government Building was… interesting. They did have a variety of torture devices on display that they had used over time. Can you imagine being forced to sit on this wooden horse?
At a park right outside the walled city local people were out with their families flying kites, meeting friends, and playing with their dogs. It was just fun to hang out and watch the local people.
For dinner we ended up eating at Petit Resto again. We had the Pingyao Local Noodles, Fried Green Beans, and Candied Apples Floss for dessert.
The total with 1 Sprite, and 1 bottle of water came to $11.25.
The Pingyao noodles were served cold, in black vinegar with onions, red pepper flakes, and grated cucumbers on top. They were very good.
The Candied Apples Floss was a real treat. The apples were deep fried in a batter then covered with a hot sugar syrup. You take the apple slice and dip it into the bowl of cold water. The cold water makes the sugar syrup hard. When you bite into the apple slice you have a crunchy hard candy coating on the outside with a warm soft battered apple inside. Delicious!
