China, Part 7: Pingyao

We took overnight train #2 from Xi'An to Pingyao.  Thank goodness we left relatively late in the evening, had a better cabin mate, and arrived early in the morning.  Basically, I grinned and beared it and then slept.  When we arrived, we knew that we would have to get a taxi to get inside the city walls.  We were tired and hungry from traveling on the train and didn't have a place to store our bags for the day.  Luckily, Harmony Guesthouse knew this happened often and a member of their staff talked us into coming with him.  We enjoyed breakfast and sitting down to make a plan for the day.  Since it's such a small town, we only went for the day.

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

Pingyao is known as the best-preserved ancient walled city in all of China.  It is a great place to see Old China in action.  Unfortunately, it was a lazy, rainy day in town.  Not the best for walking around.

We decided to go on an excursion with some guests at the guesthouse to the Wang Family Courtyard and Zhangbi Underground Castle/Zhangbi Cun, about 40 minutes out of town.  

The Wang Family Courtyard is a huge home, more like a castle.  It is a former residence from the Qing dynasty.  It goes on and on and on with it's 123 courtyards.  There are a few cave dwellings behind the wall of the residence that are still inhabited. 

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

cave dwelling behind the residence

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

The Zhangbi Underground Castle is a 1,400 year old network of defense tunnels.  It was built at the end of the Sui dynasty and was never needed for use against possible attack from Tang dynasty invaders.  We had to have a guide as it's easy to get lost.  There are more than 1,500 meters of tunnels on three levels.  The deepest drops down 26 meters.  There were small caves off the pathways that were used for storage and bedrooms.  Peepholes in the floor of some of the upper levels were made to spy on and attack would-be invaders.

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

terrible picture of a cave dwelling

From China Part 7 Pingyao

The tour included a visit to Zhangbi Cun, a village from the Yuan dynasty that is still inhabited.  It is lined with cobblestone streets and 800 year old buildings. 

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

After we drove back to Pingyao, we were able to take a quick walk around town and grab a bite to eat at another guesthouse before having to go back to the train station.  It's a really quaint town and I kind of wish we had spent the day in town, though we had a great time seeing the other places! 

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

From China Part 7 Pingyao

Next and last stop...Beijing!

more photos of Pingyao...

China Part 7 Pingyao