Day7: Pingyao and “Operation Xi'an”

The old city of Pingyao was founded 2,000 years ago. It was a prosperous city, having the first commercial bank as well as the first armored transport service in Northern China. It was an interesting experience to actually live inside the old city. Everything you see is very well restored.

As usual, the UNESCO World Heritage designation is a boom to the tourist industry in Pingyao. When we arrived on Saturday night, streets were packed with tourists and auto-rickshaws. We were not too thrilled. But on Sunday afternoon after most of tourists had left, it was very pleasant to walk the streets. We had dinner right on the street. With the cool summer breeze and the ancient buildings with red lanterns lit, it was a surreal feeling.

Getting out of Pingyao proved to be more challenging than getting in. All transports heading to Xi'an do not originate from Pingyao, only passing through. In addition, we were at the start of the summer break. Therefore all train and bus tickets were fully booked at Taiyuan, the origin station, for the next two days. With help from our hostel (Yamen), we managed to book two seats on a sleeper bus coming from Taiyuan. This ride to Xi'an was even more “interesting” than the hard seat to Datong or the mini-bus to Pingyao. That is why we call it Operation Xi'an.

We were dropped off at the toll booth by the highway because the sleeper bus would not exit the highway to pick us up and the auto-rickshaw could not drive onto the highway (minimum 60km/h). So there we were, seven foreigners walking through the toll booth onto the highway entrance around 9:30pm, feeling like illegal aliens crossing the border. Our hostel staff was busy calling the driver to inform him of our whereabout. Like magic, a bus appeared from distance and started slowing down.

Things really started to get interesting once we got on the bus. There were seven of us, all paid for the sleeper seat, but some seats were occupied already. The ticket lady on the bus had to wake people up and ask them to move. People were sleeping or sitting on the aisle. There was one Spanish lady on the bottom bunk and had to “share” her bed with a Chinese lady, who would not move away.

Throughout the night, people were dropped off and picked up. At one toll booth, many people were rushed off the bus because there was a security check point to see if the bus was overloaded (a fine of RMB10,000 if caught). Those people walked through the check point and were picked up later.

So here we are now in Xi'an. Seven hours later. Both very tired, sleepy and smoky, still waiting for a room at Hang Tang Inn...

(Photo from left to right: 1. local girl with nunchucks, 2. locals having dinner by the street, 3. us waiting for our sleeper bus by the highway)