Traveling in China Part IV: The ancient walled city of Pingyao (original work)

We had managed to get everything done in Beijing that we wanted to by the time our 4 nights at the hostel were up (we extended our stay 1 night when we arrived because we were so exhausted) so we decided that we wanted to move on. We weren't sure really where to go, we weren't even sure which direction we should head in, but we heard from some other travelers we had met that Pingyao seemed like a cool city to visit. I looked it up on a map, and it was roughly south-west, which seemed like the general direction we needed to head if we were to make it to Vietnam, so we booked a train ticket and off we went!

Riding the rails in China is an experience in and of itself, but that's a story for another time. We arrived in Pingyao in the afternoon, and started walking towards the old city where our guesthouse was located. It was a super cool little place and the owner was this hilarious middle aged woman who (mercifully) spoke excellent English. The day we arrived Sabrina was absolutely wiped out, so she stayed in the room, but I went out to explore. I got a little freaked out when I got lost in the winding alleys of the old city, and it started to get dark, and most of the streets have zero street lights, but eventually I found my way back to our place.

It was freezing cold in that part of China at the time, and the next day I started to feel sick. I gotta say, having a cold while you are traveling in a place like China is not enjoyable, so we spent the next couple of days just taking it easy and decompressing from the incredible shock of arriving in Beijing and all of the things we had seen and done in the past week. I stayed as warm as I could, and we meandered around the city, which was pretty much perfect for us at the time. Pingyao is a really really cool place to just walk around and look at. The ancient walls and stone houses haven't changed in about 700 years, and the old city has a really cool character about it. We ended up staying for about four days since I got sick, but we didn't mind, it was a perfect place to chill, regroup and get ready for our next destination.

Arriving in Pingyao

We had finally made it to our guesthouse after an all night and most of the morning train ride. It was a very welcome comfort. We had our own bathroom! And a heater! And WIFI kinda... sorta!!

I naturally had to go out exploring, and almost immediately came across this incredible shop window. Foot... just Foot. That is all.

People finishing up their business for the day.

Every rooftop in China was so decorated, I loved seeing all the detail and stone work.

Rooftop dragon.

Cycling is the most efficient and cost effective way of getting around here.

Pingyao at night

It had started to get dark at this point, and I didn't think that I would get lost (I did get lost) so I just kept wandering and taking pictures.

Waiting to close up shop.

This one was staying open late.

Cycling home.

These markets were closer to the main streets so they stayed open later.

Bicycle parking.

More nighttime cyclists.

This was the front window of a music shop that I unfortunately never got to check out, it looked really cool.

I had gotten a little turned around at this point.

I just loved how this light looked, so I of course took a few photos.

I think I took a wrong turn or two after being entranced by that cool light in the alley, and ended up going down some completely dark streets trying to make my way back to something I recognized, or at least just something lit up. After a few frantic minutes of scrambling around pitch black alleys hoping I wouldn't get mugged or end up sleeping on somebody's back step that night I ended up finding this lit up street and just went with it.

A couple more blind guesses thankfully led me back to one of the main streets that I recognized.

From there I was able to find the main street of the old city with it's lit up tower. We were staying just off of this street past the tower so at this point I knew I would be home soon. Sabrina was none too impressed at my long absence, but all was good, except I was starting to feel a little under the weather.

Last shot before I went back.

Sick with a cold in Pingyao

The next day I was full blown colded. Sore throat, runny nose, no energy. The owner of the guesthouse wrote down a note for some type of medicine on a piece of paper and directed us to the "Hospital". I hate hospitals in general but being stuck in this small place in the middle of China with no one to translate but our some what eccentric guest house owner was really freaking me out, and then we walk into this dirty back room of some ancient stone and wood house full of sick people and all I could think was "What in the hell is going on? How did we get here??" Well, the "Nurse" looked at us and I don't need any translator to tell you she was thinking the exact same thing. We smiled and gave her the paper, gestured "I'm sick, cough cough, cold, point to paper, medicine?" She brings us back a box of little tea packets, we pay and she sends us on our way. Turns out it was basically a Chinese herbal version of Neo Citron, and it tasted great. I'm not sure what it was but it sure made my throat feel better, and I got over that cold in about a day and a half. The only photos I really have of that time are these two of the "Hospital" and it's very modern front entrance, hahaha.

Around the ancient city of Pingyao

After I had started to feel better we decided to make hay while the sun was shining, so we took the opportunity to wander around and explore the city. Sabrina loved this doorway.

Fellas playing cards in the city square.

We really liked the way this alley looked.

Doorway.

Another cool alley, this time with bonus cute pup!

Guarding the alley.

The walls of the old city are very impressive, from what I understand they are about 700 years old as well.

We weren't able to walk along the walls but we did find this area where we could climb up a huge staircase and get a really good look out over the walls and a bit of the city.

Sabrina took a picture of me taking the above picture, haha.

The whole city is made of these stone bricks, you can understand how many of the houses are around 300 years old.

Ladies selling produce at the old city gate.

China is a very beautiful, but very dusty country.

These bikes actually have small seats on the back, they are designed to carry a small passenger, we saw them everywhere here and they looked really fun for the kids actually.

Other times kids would just sit on the rear rack.

We loved the look of this old building.

The old city is chock full of these antique shops, tons of neat things to look through and find.

Old stamps and a chairman Mao watch.

This is the main street during the day.

These flags over the street just looked really cool

Guard dog on duty.

Nah he was pretty chill actually :)

Locals hangin out.

The most amazing bubble car we ever saw. Wish we could have taken it for a ride.

We found this strange abandoned part of town. It was all overgrown and dilapitated and I think they were just using it for storage. Made for interesting photos though.

Old door.

Very dusty statues in what I think used to be a shop.

These guys were selling hot baked sweet potatoes, a nice treat on a cold winter day!

We really loved just wandering around finding streets like this.

These were cut paper art pieces, amazing and beautiful, we actually bought one.

The stand was open until late at night.

Just around the corner was this really cool poster shop as well.

I'm not sure what this old poster says but I loved the style of art.

Another shot of the tower in the center of town, it was a busy day.

The tiled roofs all have these plants and grass growing in the cracks, it looks so strange to see trees growing out of the top of the roof but most buildings there are like this.

This shot was taken from underneath the tower in the center of town, I was just fascinated by it.

Having a morning tea at our guesthouse just before we head out to our next destination.

The light was really nice by the window.

Sabrina just before we left for Xian.

So that was our adventure through the ancient walled city of Pingyao. It was a really cool experience to stay there and see the old city and we are so glad that we found this awesome place. From Pingyao we took another night train to the city of Xian where the famous Terracotta Warriors were found.

As always if you like the post feel free to toss me a vote, I always appreciate them! And be sure to follow me @dexter-k on Steemit to follow our travels around the world and see new original content all the time. Next time I'll be posting our photos from around the city of Xian and visiting the Terracotta Warriors museum. Then following on the incredible and beautiful karst mountains in the Yonshuo area of southern China. Thanks so much for reading!

Dexter