Upon nearing the train station at about 7.30am, our original ticket was returned to us (so not sure why they didn't just let us keep it) and we squeezed ourselves and our bags to the door. Just outside the station we had the pleasure of an unexpected pick-up and so made it to Harmony Guesthouse without any haggling or uncertainty.
After a welcome drink of hot water, we were shown through the impressive courtyard to our room. The bed was humungous and took up over 80% of the room. Unfortunately, this left little room for anything other than walking to the bathroom or out of the door and so we had to keep the bags on the bed. There was already a bed-top tea-table on there so it was almost a squeeze in the end.
We were offered a chance to share a taxi and guide to see the Wang Family Residence (which made me smile and think of Eve's wanging exploits) and some cave-dwellings where people still live, but it was quite pricey and we've taken out £400 since we arrived in China so we had to refuse. We thought we'd explore the city first and then start looking outside it if we want to later.
The Lonely Planet raves about Pingyao and it's actually in their Top 30 places in China but it wasn't doing so much for us. There are quite a few 'attractions' but they looked quite dead and included such dubious delights as the 'Rishengchang Financial House Museum' as well as quite a few temples. It was also possible to walk around the city walls but everything was all on one ticket and we were loathe to spend another £30 on one day of looking at stuff we wont remember missing in the grand scheme of things. It wasn't really helping that it was the first dull and overcast day we'd seen in China and we were quite tired. We were initially glad that we were there out of season since Wiki travel suggested that there were 3 times more tourists than the capacity of the city during high season, but it was definitely lacking in sunshine and life.
We found the supermarket and went in to buy some fruit but it was all a little confusing and I guess we were too hungry because we came out armed with all sorts of Chinese munchies and sweets. I think I can see all of the weight we lost in India creeping back on due to my current reliance on carbs and fast-food and there's not even enough room on the floor (or our huge bed!) to do some yoga.
We were determined to try the local specialities after missing out on the steak of Pokhura and the duck of Beijing and so headed to a little cafe restaurant for Pingyao beef and rolled noodles. Matt really enjoyed the beef which was almost like posh corned-beef/pastrami and was served cold. My noodles were like a giant honeycomb of pasta and looked like they may have once belonged to the digestive system of a large mammal but the lady was determined that they complied with my previously prepared written request to show me the dishes that did not contain any animal. Luckily, she did serve it with a kind of tomato chilli sauce which was quite tasty because otherwise it would have been gooey stodge.
We'd pretty much covered the whole walled section, as well as a brief venture out into the not-very-alluring city outside the town, and it had got pretty cold and started to snow so we headed back to our room for our while.
A too-long nap later and a quick mandarin lesson from the owner, we headed out again to see if darkness had changed the town at all. One of the things that I love about travelling is how different places come alive at night. At home, things either close or become full of drunken people but it seems that in lots of other countries, you really get to see a different side. The whole town seemed to be lit up with Chinese lanterns and the traditional towers that we'd seen earlier were sparkling with fairy lights.
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