Post #25 – November 5, 2012 – Pingyao, China

Jeff here. Today was a pretty lazy day in Pingyao. We woke up around 11 am, but didn’t actually leave our room until 1:30 pm. We were in no rush to leave the relative warmth of our room and enter the frigidness that is Pingyao. But, alas, our stomachs eventually drew us out of our warm little lair to seek out lunch.

Unfortunately, we had to do laundry, but there is no dryer at our hostel. Because we were wearing most of our warm clothes when we got sprayed by the bus in Beijing, we wanted to get that all washed before wearing it again. So, we handed over our warmest clothes to get washed, which wouldn’t be ready until tomorrow morning. At least it was slightly warmer than yesterday. Even still, we were cold! Here’s a view of the streets of Pingyao:

On our way to find food, we stopped at a little shop on the street and bought some gloves for both of us. We paid 35 Yuan for both pairs, which is less than $6. We had initially planned to eat at a restaurant specializing in soups, but after wandering around on the street it was supposed to be found on for quite some time, we gave up and went to another recommended restaurant.

Unfortunately, we’re beginning to realize that all the restaurants recommended by our Lonely Planet book KNOW that they’re recommended. So I think they’ve all upped their prices accordingly. Our lunch was pretty tasty, but one of the most expensive meals we’ve had in China. Keep in mind it came to about $14, so there’s not too much to complain about, but this is Pingyao. We got cheaper meals in Beijing!

Anyway, after our lunch we went to the tower in the middle of the old town. It only cost 5 Yuan to climb up and it provided some pretty neat views of town. While we were up there cars in a wedding procession passed along the street below us, so it was neat to see that. The truck leading the procession was dropping fire-crackers out of the back. Unfortunately for people standing at street level the fire-crackers let out quite a bit of smoke that I don’t think many people on the street appreciated! Here are some pics:

After this we wandered around some more looking into small shops for souvenirs. We saw some pretty neat stuff, like hand-made shoes and scarves, but we didn’t buy anything. We were freezing by this time and decided to just head back to our hostel. We got back and just curled up under some blankets. I fell asleep while Patty was looking into the best places to shop in China. The city’s air seems pretty polluted and I think it’s been getting to both of us. Then, the power went out, again! We were both convinced that the power was going to stay out until morning, so we both just went to sleep. We were wrong, though, and the power came back on a couple hours later. I think the cold weather is making us both feel like hibernating!

It wasn’t until around 9:30 pm that we decided we wanted something to eat. Unfortunately, almost everything was closed by that time. There was practically no one on the streets, but we found a local coffee shop/pub that was still open that was recommended by our book. Of course, the prices were high, so we ordered a beer and chocolate cake with ice cream. The dessert was delicious. Not much of a dinner, but I guess it’ll do.

The tower we climbed earlier in the day is lit up very nice at night. I tried to take a couple of pictures of it, but they didn’t come out that nice. Here’s what it looks like:

After our meal we basically sprinted back to our hostel it was so cold. The south cannot come fast enough. Checked the temperature in Hong Kong today and it was 28 degrees. Looking forward to that!

Anywho, time for bed. Good night!