Pingyao

The day started very early. My train out of Beijing left at 7.45am and I left the hostel just after 6am to get the subway to the station and ensure I had plenty of time to figure out where to go at the station. The station is huge and the system for boarding China's bullet trains is very different to Korea and Japan, and until you know how it works, it's confusing. 

As the train left Beijing (on time) it didn't look as hazy as yesterday. About 45 minutes into the journey it got very foggy (or maybe smoggy, I'm not sure how to tell the difference unless I'm outside and can tell I'm breathing in pollution) but by the time I got to Pingyao at lunchtime it was sunny.

Pingyao has the best preserved ancient town and city walls in China. It's surrounded by a modern Chinese city with apartment blocks being built everywhere but the ancient city has been preserved and best of all, inside a certain area there are no cars allowed. 

The architecture reminds me of Lijiang, a town I visited and really liked the only other time I've been to China, cough 16 years ago, it doesn't seem that long. But Pingyao is easy to navigate, I remember Lijiang being hilly and I got very lost. It's a tourist town, mainly Chinese tourists and it seems quiet at the moment.

These girls were walking in formation down the main street. I don't know where they were going or anything about the outfits they are wearing.