Píngyáo (平遥).
November 2011

Píngyáo is a county in central Shanxi province, China. It's most famous structure is Market Tower, which was constructed in the 14th century.

Market Tower, 14th century

Pingyao still retains its city layout from the Ming and Qing dynasties, conforming to a typical bāguà (八卦) pattern.

A street in Píngyáo as seen

from the top floor of Market Tower

Was it snowing the night before?

It's said that there are close to 4 000 well-preserved Ming- and Qing-style residences in Pingyao. It is apparent that the streets and storefronts still largely retain their historical appearance. If you want to know what the China of old is like, then better head to this place pronto before it becomes too touristy and commercialised. Here are some pictures of the old but still functional houses and shops ...

One of the smaller towers.

Old shops

Shopping

What surprises await around this corner?

Renovations along one of the streets.

Renovations are usually done in winter when it is the low-peak tourist season. Will it reach a stage where the old-world charm may just vanish and be replaced by the fake modern ones?

A peek into one of the residences

The street as seen from the cafe of my hostel

An old man by an old building. No rush, no stress.

 “Gan bei” anyone?  

Real, ancient and functional watering hole.

Pingyao city walls measure about 12 meters high, with a perimeter of 6,000 meters. Just outside the walls is a 4-meter wide, 4-meter deep moat.

Most parts of the city walls are still largely intact and are considered among the best-preserved ancient city walls in China.

Of course, a trip to China is not complete without the ubiquitous souvenir. We bought something from this lacquer shop, which according to the proprietor makes the best and finest lacquer products in this part of China, if not the whole of China! And so, we were conned convinced. Harharhar... actually, we were not conned at all; the lacquer boxes we bought were of quite high quality and very practical.

A lacquer shop.

So, where did we stay while in Pingyao? ...  Of course, in a very, very old ancient guest-house. It’s so old, dark and ancient ... if you are weak spiritually, you'd definitely have a restless night here. Although I would think that it is most probably your imagination playing tricks on you.

...old, dark and ancient guesthouse.

It has a "kang" (炕) bed too although it cannot be heated up now! The room is now heated up by an electric heater.

a kang bed

How about night-life in Pingyao? Well, sorry to say there's practically none ... but then again, that's the main reason for coming here. At night, you'd get to "hear" the real silence, enjoy the cool and painfully fresh air for the lungs (for long-time congested-polluted-air city dwellers anyway), ...

and this ...

Pingyao at night

Will I go there again? Isn't it obvious ?