Special Trip Photos - Ancient Pingyao, March 19-21, 2010
In March we did a special trip to Shanxi Province for a 3-day visit to the ancient walled city of Pingyao. As well as exploring the city, we hiked in the hills outside the walls.
Special treats included a command performance of Shanxi Opera, and two nights in a boutique 5-star courtyard hotel right in the center of the old city. We had guided tours of the alleys, thoroughfares, and the key historical sites, and also headed outside the ancient city walls to visit the ‘Civilian Forbidden City,’ the Shuanglin Temple, and to take a hike in the hills around the White Cloud Temple.
Huijie snapped too many shots for one page - below are a few highlights; you can find many more photos from this trip in our Pingyao 2010 photo set.
First day

The happy group of travellers.

Small dog with a stone lion.

A street performer in period costume.

Climbing steps towards an ornately decorated tower.

We circled the city, walking on the old walls.

Dinner on the first evening was accompanied by a command performance of Shanxi-style opera.

Second day

We got on the bikes and headed towards a temple outside of the city.

Shanxi specialties for lunch.

One of the main streets of Pingyao.

Back at the hotel, we got to try our hand at papercutting.
Third day

While hiking on the third day, we spotted quite a few dwellings dug into a hillside.

More of the hillside houses.

This alley led up towards the ornamented gate of a temple.