Pingyao, Shanxi Province, China

Nola expressed a few time that she wanted to ride a train, especially after I rode a bullet train on a school trip.  After some research, we decided take a weekend trip to Pingyao.  When we talked to the girls about the trip, they asked why we were going and our simple answer was, ‘Because we can!’  It is very important to us to use our time here to travel, learn about the culture, and experience things together as a family.

Pingyao is an ancient Chinese city, first recorded in 800 B.C and is considered important in the Chinese economic history as some consider it to be a financial center of the 19thcentury which is why it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We left Beijing on Friday night and took a quick flight to a town close to Pingyao.  A driver picked us up and took us to our hotel centrally located in the ancient town.  It was already almost midnight when we arrived, so we were all very tired and ready for sleep.
The hotel was quaint and full of character, including a interesting wall art that Ivy didn’t like!  There was a large family bed that all the girls slept in and a small one for Matt. We got to sleep quickly, woke well rested and excited for our day.  Breakfast was prepared for us and we had a great start to the day, which included a friendly cat that visited us.
Armed with a map, we set out to explore.  The small walled in city had narrow streets and amazing buildings all around.  The day was cold, but we walked as much as we could and saw many interesting sites and people.
In the afternoon, we toured the Wang Mansion which is about 30 minutes away from Pingyao.  The ancient mansion was fascinating in its history and the surrounding area provided some great views.  We had fun exploring and made a few friends along the way.
In the evening, we had a delicious dinner at our hotel and spent some time relaxing in our room before bed. We had a surprise power outage that scared us all for a little while.  It came back on shortly, but then went out again.  I went out to the hotel/restaurant area to find out what happened and realized the whole town was without power.  All of the customers and staff seemed unfazed about the power outage, so we figured it happened regularly.  After about 20 minutes, it came back on, so the evening was saved.
The girls do not often get asked for pictures in our daily life in Beijing, but we all felt the attention in Pingyao.  We realized that Pingyao is not high on the list of tourist destinations for many Westerners so our presence did not go unnoticed.
People all around us were always staring at the girls; some wanting pictures with them, some taking pictures as we walked by, and some even wanting pictures with Matt. Sometimes it feels fun like we are celebrities, but there are times it gets a bit overwhelming to have all the attention when we simply want to enjoy the scenery.
Our last day, we explored different areas of the city and the city walls.  We hoped to walk around the full perimeter of the city up on the wall but were disappointed to see that portions were closed for renovations.  Perhaps we will have to return to see the wall after the restoration. We saw temples, watched some interesting Peking Opera, and enjoyed this small ancient city.
We left Pingyao in the afternoon on a bullet train back to Beijing.  The girls loved riding on the train, much more space and ability to move around than a plane.  We were all tired by the time we got home, but it was a super fun weekend exploring an ancient Chinese city!