It is a little cold in Shanxi. The weather is often windy and dusty with very little rain. Travellers had better bring sunglasses and hats. You are recommended to buy and drink bottle water instead of pipe water, because pipe water is a little salty. You are free to bargain in hotels, restaurants, shops and travels. Backpackers can visit the Pingyao Ancient City without tour guides. If you come across with a travel group, stand near them and listen to their guide for historical stories. Please take care of the tickets. There are many different relic places to visits. Most of the time, you need to show your tickets at the entrances.
Best Time to Visit the Pingyao Ancient City
January, September and November are the best months for travelers to visit the Pingyao Ancient City. Actually, you can go to the Pingyao Ancient City at any time of the year. However autumn is more cool and comfortable. In the end of September, there is the Photo Festival, which attracts many visitors each year. It is a little cold in winter. However there are fewer travelers than other time. Travelers can enjoy firing performances and the beautiful scenery covered with white snow. In addition, it is also very pleasant for travelers to go to the Pingyao Ancient City during the spring festival.
Pingyao Ancient City Best Routes
Pingyao Ancient Walls—Ancient County Court— Dacheng Palace of the Wenmiao Temple—Rishengcheng Exchange Shop—Gushi Building
Start the tour at the west gate. It usually takes eight hours to see the Pingyao Ancient City. During these hours, you can feel a simple, peaceful and quiet atmosphere of this ancient city.
In the morning: West Ancient Walls—County Court—Leijitai—Wenmiao Temple—Chenghuang Temple—Qingxu Taoist Temple
In the noon: have dinner at the Ming and Qing Street
In the afternoon: North Ancient Walls, Rishengchang Exchange Shop, Ming and Qing Street—Gushi Building.
Tips: Go out of the County Court in the south door, there is the nearest way to go to the Shuanglin Temple. Everyday, there is a show at 10：00 in the County Court. In the weekend, there are activities outside the north door and in the south street.
Notice：The second day’s plan is to visit the famous Wang’s and Qiao’s Grand Courtyard. In the morning, you can go to the Wang’s at Lingshi. In the noon, take a car from Lingshi to Taiyuan, get off at the Qixian County and have a visit to the Qiao’s Grand Courtyard. It is where the Zhang Yimou’s film Raise The Red Lantern was shooting. The courtyards are very beautiful. Many visitors take a lot of photos there. In the evening, you can go back to Taiyuan by minibuses. It takes almost one hour.
Pingyao Ancient City Tickets
The joint ticket is 120 yuan. You can visit almost twenty attractions. There are places to drill holes on the ticket. One hole will be drilled on the ticket after you enter a spot. If you don’t visit twenty attractions, you can have the ticket noted and use see other places the next day. The ticket can only be used for two days. The attractions included Ancient Walls, Rishengchang Exchan Shops, County Cout, Qingxu Taoist Temple, Chenghuang Temple, Caishen Temple, Ming and Qing Street, Baitongchuan, Xietongqing, Tianjiexiang, Leilvtai former residence, Commence Chamber of China and so on.
Pingyao Ancient Wall Ticket: 15 yuan.
Zhenguo Temple Ticket: 20 yuan.
Shuanglin Temple Ticket: 25 yuan.
Rishengchang Exchange Shop: 20 yuan. You had better hire a tour guide.
Ancient Walls: 5 yuan.
How to Get to the Pingyao Ancient City
It only takes two hours to get to Pingyao Train Station from Taiyuan. The Ancient City does not cover a very huge area. You can just walk. If you don’t feel like walking, you can take a rickshaw. It takes five to ten minutes to get to the Ancient City by rickshaw. The price to hire one is about two to three yuan.
Taiyuan Coach Station is just 300 metres away from Taiyuan Train Station. It is on the Jinshe South Street. There are buses and cabs between Pingyao Ancient City and Qiao’s Grand Courtyard. It is recommended to take the buses. It also takes two hours from Taiyuan to Pingyao. The bus leaves Pingyao for Taiyuan every 20 minutes from 7∶30 to 17:30. The ticket is 10 yuan. The price of the bus from Taiyuan is 25 yuan. The price from Pingyao to Qiao’s Grand Courtyard is 10 yuan. It takes one and a half hours to get there.
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