Ancient city walls of Pingyao
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, July 3, 2013
Tickets in Pingyao are based on a one-for-all deal, meaning most attractions do not sell tickets individually, but a 150 yuan (US$24.4) ticket gives you access to all areas, including the walls, for three days. Almost. The restriction is that you can only enter each place once. There are ticket offices located near all the four main gates.
108 snacks
In Pingyao, everything is close to the wall. The main streets where most hotels, shops and bars and restaurants are located are simply called North, West, East and South.
Part of South Street also makes up what is referred to as the ancient Ming-Qing Street, where most business activities during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties took place, around the still existing city tower.
Pingyao for decades led national finance and trade, with China's earliest commercial banks established here and the location for the first cheques and bank drafts in Qing Dynasty (1636-1912).
The city's heyday as a financial powerhouse has long passed, and nowadays its attractions are more laid-back.
It's lovely to sit outside and enjoy a drink and a Pingyao snack - 108 is the famous number of different snacks apparently, and most establishments seem to be serving them all.
Pingyao beef is not to be missed - it's delicious.
And there are noodles in all shapes, like "cat ear" noodles that really resemble macaroni, and the kaolaolao oatmeal noodles.
Make sure and go into the restaurants, though. Even if many have tables on the streets, they also have charming courtyards in which to sit and soak up the history and atmosphere of the city.
Original Han architecture
The Pingyao city walls are straight and square on three sides, with the exception being the southern wall, which follows the contours of the Zhongdu River, with the river also serving as a natural moat.
The current outline of the wall was originally built under Ming Emperor Hongwu in 1370, as an enlargement, for defence purposes, of the original construction dating back to the Western Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-770 BC).
In total, the wall is 6.4 kilometers long, about 12 meters tall, and ranging between 3 and 6 meters wide on top.
It is usually possible to walk around the whole wall, but reconstruction work was taking place on the northeastern part during my visit.
And, be warned that you can only ascend on the north and south gate, so make sure you don't plan to start in the east, like I did. There are no ways up or down there. On the west gate, you can only descend.
Do get up to the top, however. From the wall is where you can best see how charming Pingyao is, with a bird's-eye view of well-kept courtyards and fascinating rooftops, said to be some of the best preserved examples of original Han architecture in the country.
Crystal Dong said this is one reason why so many locals love their city.
"We have our courtyard inside the city wall, we can have pets, park our bikes in our yard and not be afraid of losing them," she explained.
"Old people can chat and do their exercises with their neighbors and sit outside their homes and watch people pass by on the city wall."
SPA treatments
Be sure to make time for shopping in Pingyao. I totally fell for cute handmade Pingyao shoes, and had to restrain myself as I wanted all the colors.
Lacquered boxes are another Pingyao speciality.
I picked up a cool guidebook called "A Brown Paper Book of Pingyao," which explains why Pingyao is called the "tortoise city."
In ancient times tortoises were worshiped as a "totem" by the Han people of the region.
They would heat tortoise shells and examine the cracks in order to divine the outcome of expeditions.
The Jing's Residence Hotel website points out how the six city gates represent a tortoise. South is the head, north the tail, with the four legs in the east and west.
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