Travelling: 平遥 Píngyáo Plans
We're going to go to 平遥 Píngyáo this Friday and stay there for the weekend.
Back in 2006, I made an unsuccessful attempt to go to 平遥 Píngyáo.
I had my bag packed:
I had my train ticket:
But when the 7 pm train from Beijing to 平遥 Píngyáo left, car number 8, bunk #31 was sans koala :P
Ever since then, I've wanted to go back. I guess I have a real obsession with 古城(ancient towns) - hence the visits to 阆中 Lángzhōng ( Sichuan Province) and 丽江 Lijiang ( Yunnan Province). I've also been to Dali in Yunnan Province and 爨底下村 Cuandiaxia Village near Beijing.
平遥 Píngyáo is a Chinese city and county in central Shanxi Province. This will make my 5th ancient city in 4 provinces, although I suppose if we count 束河村Shu He Village, then that will be SIX ancient cities in 4 provinces :)
平遥 Píngyáo is approximately 715 km from Beijing. It is famous for its well-preserved ancient city wall and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Back in 96/97, the Canadian and I visited Xi'An (home to the Entombed Warriors) and Xi'An also has a very well-preserved wall, but by all accounts, 平遥 Píngyáo's city wall is one of the best-preserved walls.
Most Chinese cities used to have a wall - even Beijing. It's for this reason that many of place names still refer to a 'gate' that no longer exists. As the cities grew and as time passed, the walls were demolished - which is sad .... you wonder why they couldn't just create thoroughfares instead of demolishing the whole wall.
Wikipedia has a good blurb about 平遥 Píngyáo:
Pingyao still retains its city layout from the Ming and Qing dynasties, conforming to a typical bagua pattern. More than 300 sites in or near the city have ancient ruins. Preserved Ming- and Qing-style residences number close to 4,000. The streets and storefronts still largely retain their historical appearance.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, the county belonged to the kingdom of Jin. It was part of the kingdom of Zhao in the Warring States Period. In the Qin Dynasty, it was known as Pingtao. During the Han Dynasty, it was known as Zhongdu county. In 1986, the People's Republic of China designated Pingyao as one of the Chinese Historic and Cultural Cities. It became a World Heritage Site in 1997, included also the outlying Zhenguo Temple and Shuanglin Temple.
The city walls of Pingyao were constructed in the 3rd year of the Hongwu Emperor (1370). The walls have six barbican gates. The north and south sides have one gate each. The east and west sides have two gates each. This pattern is similar to that of a turtle (the head, tail, and four legs), earning Pingyao the moniker "Turtle City." The walls measure about 12 metres high, with a perimeter of 6,000 meters. A 4-meter wide, 4-meter deep moat can be found just outside the walls. Aside from the four structured towers at the four corners, there are also 72 watchtowers and more than 3,000 battlements. In 2004, part of the southern walls collapsed but were reconstructed. However, the rest of the city walls are still largely intact and are considered among the best-preserved ancient city walls on this scale. This makes the city walls the centerpiece of the Heritage Site.
From the photos I've seen, it seems very nice and I'm sure we will like it:
The 1992 Zhang Yimou movie Raise the Red Lantern (大紅燈籠高高掛 Dà Hóng Dēnglóng Gāogāo Guà) starring Gong Li was filmed at Qiao's Compound in 平遥 Píngyáo.
The hotel that we're going to be staying at looks really nice, too based on the photos at the website.
We were really tempted to stay in one of the more luxurious suites because the traditional bed was so cool. But they were a bit too expensive.
So we're staying in a more simple room instead - sans the child, that appears on the hotel's website photos :)
There are some really nice photos of 平遥 Píngyáo here.
Back in 2006, I made an unsuccessful attempt to go to 平遥 Píngyáo.
I had my bag packed:
I had my train ticket:
But when the 7 pm train from Beijing to 平遥 Píngyáo left, car number 8, bunk #31 was sans koala :P
Ever since then, I've wanted to go back. I guess I have a real obsession with 古城(ancient towns) - hence the visits to 阆中 Lángzhōng ( Sichuan Province) and 丽江 Lijiang ( Yunnan Province). I've also been to Dali in Yunnan Province and 爨底下村 Cuandiaxia Village near Beijing.
平遥 Píngyáo is a Chinese city and county in central Shanxi Province. This will make my 5th ancient city in 4 provinces, although I suppose if we count 束河村Shu He Village, then that will be SIX ancient cities in 4 provinces :)
平遥 Píngyáo is approximately 715 km from Beijing. It is famous for its well-preserved ancient city wall and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Back in 96/97, the Canadian and I visited Xi'An (home to the Entombed Warriors) and Xi'An also has a very well-preserved wall, but by all accounts, 平遥 Píngyáo's city wall is one of the best-preserved walls.
Most Chinese cities used to have a wall - even Beijing. It's for this reason that many of place names still refer to a 'gate' that no longer exists. As the cities grew and as time passed, the walls were demolished - which is sad .... you wonder why they couldn't just create thoroughfares instead of demolishing the whole wall.
Wikipedia has a good blurb about 平遥 Píngyáo:
Pingyao still retains its city layout from the Ming and Qing dynasties, conforming to a typical bagua pattern. More than 300 sites in or near the city have ancient ruins. Preserved Ming- and Qing-style residences number close to 4,000. The streets and storefronts still largely retain their historical appearance.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, the county belonged to the kingdom of Jin. It was part of the kingdom of Zhao in the Warring States Period. In the Qin Dynasty, it was known as Pingtao. During the Han Dynasty, it was known as Zhongdu county. In 1986, the People's Republic of China designated Pingyao as one of the Chinese Historic and Cultural Cities. It became a World Heritage Site in 1997, included also the outlying Zhenguo Temple and Shuanglin Temple.
The city walls of Pingyao were constructed in the 3rd year of the Hongwu Emperor (1370). The walls have six barbican gates. The north and south sides have one gate each. The east and west sides have two gates each. This pattern is similar to that of a turtle (the head, tail, and four legs), earning Pingyao the moniker "Turtle City." The walls measure about 12 metres high, with a perimeter of 6,000 meters. A 4-meter wide, 4-meter deep moat can be found just outside the walls. Aside from the four structured towers at the four corners, there are also 72 watchtowers and more than 3,000 battlements. In 2004, part of the southern walls collapsed but were reconstructed. However, the rest of the city walls are still largely intact and are considered among the best-preserved ancient city walls on this scale. This makes the city walls the centerpiece of the Heritage Site.
From the photos I've seen, it seems very nice and I'm sure we will like it:
The 1992 Zhang Yimou movie Raise the Red Lantern (大紅燈籠高高掛 Dà Hóng Dēnglóng Gāogāo Guà) starring Gong Li was filmed at Qiao's Compound in 平遥 Píngyáo.
The hotel that we're going to be staying at looks really nice, too based on the photos at the website.
We were really tempted to stay in one of the more luxurious suites because the traditional bed was so cool. But they were a bit too expensive.
So we're staying in a more simple room instead - sans the child, that appears on the hotel's website photos :)
There are some really nice photos of 平遥 Píngyáo here.