26th October: Pingyao, China
It was another fine autumn day in southern Shanxi. On our walk out of the old city, there was a bit more construction traffic on the roads. Remarkably, the lorries and even cement trucks have just one wheel at the front, which looks more than a little unsteady. Also, when they accelerate it sounds like a helicopter making a low pass. It’s only when you get a few combustion engine vehicles that you realise just how quiet all of the other electric vehicles are!
We got a taxi just out of town to the Shuanglin Temple. This, like many other places in Shanxi has been popularised this year by being featured in a game called Black Myth: Wukong. We’ve seen a few people cosplaying as characters, both in Pingyao and at Yungang Grottoes. The temple was a little underwhelming compared to others we’ve seen (to be fair the taxi driver did warn us), but the 26-limbed Guanyin was a site to behold. Imagine the co-ordination you’d need!
We waited on the very wide but sparsely trafficked road for a bus back. I was feeling exhausted and quite out of it again today but was determined to do a little more wandering in the old city to make use of the final day of our tickets. We got off at a later stop to walk on from the north but were quickly distracted by a good looking lunch spot. We had the green herbs again, which seem to be a local speciality, along with two dishes over flames – spicy potatoes and tofu with onion – and the usual rice. The rice is kept on hand mainly for any chilli incidents! Thankfully, everything was at a comfortable and very tasty sauce level. One thing in Pingyao, all of the crockery in every restaurant has come shrink-wrapped and they chuck dirties in big boxes. There must be a central dishwashing location!
There were a couple more ‘key attractions’ in the old city we’d not yet visited. First was the compound of a merchant family, the Mas, which showed the more personal side of life, albeit only for the wealthy few. Finally, we entered another bank museum. So, neither the first nor second place we thought were the museum yesterday were it after all! Or maybe they all are?! Either way, we’d seen enough courtyards, mahogany furniture, fake silver bars, and scary looking statues to last us for a good while.
So, exhausted, we picked up various snacks and called it a day. Even whilst getting food, we had to pose for photos, but eventually managed to get away! Not before one last bit of drama though, when I got clipped on the elbow at some speed by the careless driver of one of the tourist milk floats whilst walking back. Honestly, I’d just ban the things except for those with mobility issues. They are absolute chaos!
Pingyao is a fascinating place and I’m glad that we’ve had chance to explore slowly and have some down time here. I would say though that much of it is quite similar and you could easily just visit 4 or 5 of the 18 main buildings, wander the ancient Qing and Ming streets and move on the next day. We will do just that tomorrow! Of the snacks we picked up, the date and chocolate and date and walnut cakes were so, so good! I inhaled one of each with a cup of tea and am already looking forward to the others on the train tomorrow.