I’ve always wanted to visit a place like Pingyao. So many European cities have old towns that are walled in and preserved, but the same cannot be said for many cities in China. They’ve been destroyed, torn down, or otherwise repurposed. To see something like Pingyao is to see a small glimpse of what China was like during one of the most prosperous times in its 4000 year old history.

Unbeknownst to us the night before when we wandered out for a street snack dinner, our hostel had actually moved and our Lonely Planet guide was no longer accurate. After a few confused looks at street signs, we finally figured out what happened and were able to navigate ourselves towards Pingyao’s main street. It’s thankfully closed off to cars, though bikes and scooters still wiggle their way through the crowds of people.

Main drag

Continued

We thought scaling the city walls and walking around and above the town would be a nice way to start. Unfortunately, several parts of the city wall were being renovated, so we were only able to access about 1/3 of it. It’s still quite a thrill to walk on top of a 500+ year old wall and look down on an equally old city (above, and below).

View from wall

For lunch, we sat at a street stall and had knife cut noodles, a regional specialty. These are actually kind of amazing. The people have done away with the whole cutting board business. They hold a big block of dough in their hands and shave slices over a big vat of water, thus making noodles. The Italians take hours to make perfectly little shaped pieces of pasta. The Chinese have gone in the opposite direction.

Coming down the wall

Pingyao is composed of hundreds of courtyard residences. Some of them have been deemed historically significant and have been turned into museums. They may have been banks, merchants, or just large residents. One of them was a martial arts training center. Another was a Confucius Temple built in the 11th century.

Martial arts courtyard

Confucius Temple

At night, we ventured to Pingyao’s bar street. It was almost completely empty save for random people doing karaoke by themselves. And this isn’t just any karaoke, this is like, merciless kick you in the face karaoke. You’re not in a room with your friends. You’re on stage with lights pointed at you. And there were dudes just singing by themselves. Cojones.

Bar street