PINGYAO

After a short stay in a Xi An, and a nice visit with the Terracotta Warriors, I jumped on an overnight train to Pingyao. Pingyao is an ancient walled city. There are a lot of walled cities in China, but this place is like a time warp!  The town could be described as dilapidated but in the most charming sense - dusty lantern-lined cobblestone streets, timeworn grey-brick buildings, and so much texture and character it's like a sensory overload.  The people are a perfect fit; the community is lively, full of old courtyard residences, small shops, and artists selling their work on the street. Piles of old brick can be found in every alley, on hand for any patchwork on the decaying architecture.  The old City Tower stands in the center of town and straddles the main street running north to south.  It's a pretty small town, easy to cover in a day or two, and wonderful to explore by foot or bicycle.  I think this might be the China that everyone pictures China to look like...