a touch of the past in Pingyao

We arrived back in Xi'an from our trip to the Terracotta Warriors mid-afternoon and spent the afternoon doing not much. After a lovely dinner with John, Chris and a few of the other teachers we caught the bus back to the train station ready for our 11:30pm train onwards. It took us a long while to decide on our next destination, from before we arrived in Xi'an, and we were still debating after we got on this train. Initially we were going to visit a Buddhist mountain called Wutai Shan, but then thought the better of it because of our increasing lack of wonder with each temple that we saw. Instead, Taiyuan and Datong were next on the list. Then back to Wutai Shan and Datong. And so on.. Finally we purchased our ticket and it was to Taiyuan. Of course, on the train we changed our minds and decided to instead get off early in a small sleepy town called Pingyao, as talked up by quite a number of people we had been speaking to. What a good decision at 7am!
Pingyao is a little different to many places you will see in China. About the time when the rest of country came upon some money and began modernising, this once thriving merchant town fell into a recession in the 20th century. Because of this unfortunate turn of events, Pingyao's streets have remained unchanged ever since. But this is exactly what attracts people there. This city, located in the Shanxi province, is considered to be possibly the best-preserved ancient walled city in China as it managed to escape destruction during the many wars and conflicts over the centuries.
Two colours defined Pingyao for me: grey and red. Anywhere you look - whether it be the roofs, the fortified walls, the half-demolished (or half-constructed, depending on how you look at it) buildings, or the paved streets which are often blocked off to motorised vehicles - grey fills your field of vision. In stark contrast with this are the red lanterns swinging in the breeze, hanging from every store and building, the red flags and banners displaying the slogans of the many local restaurants (each one serving essentially the same food as the next), and the red-hued pillars and gateways dotted around the city.
No McDonald's, no Starbucks, no bullshit basically. Just people getting on with their lives (albeit mostly in small knickknack shops aimed at the tourists, especially in the tourist area). I really enjoyed our short stay here. Though there was not much to actually do as such, it was nice just to be in a place different to the relatively bustling cities that we had experienced thus far. We spent the early part of the day walking the streets, getting slightly lost again before taking a small two-person motorised bike back to our hostel. After a short siesta and a stint on the net attempting to get the blog moving, we ventured back out at nightfall to see the transformation as the streets became dark and then revitalised by the now-illuminated red lanterns.
Another early start was required the next morning, but this time to catch a bus to finish the trip to Taiyuan we had started on the train.

Photos:

Putting on his shoes, sitting on Lee's bed while she sleeps

coming in from the train station

the streets of Pingyao

just observing

still don't know what this game is, but they're enjoying it!

old-style transport.. awesome!

the streets at night. a little blurry - love the night shots!

loving the red lanterns