overview
The ancient city of Pingyao is the only well-preserved ancient city in China, and it is the birthplace of Shanxi merchants. Here are the imprints of the once prosperous Ming and Qing Dynasties, the modern power of Pingyao, and a variety of special delicacies.
The ancient city of Pingyao in winter is not as lively as in summer, it is a bit depressed, and many small hotels are not open. There are not very many tourists, the whole ancient city is quiet and quiet, and it is also suitable for leisurely strolling around the whole ancient city.
We got off at the high-speed rail station for this trip. You can choose a bus when you get off the high-speed rail station, or the hotel you booked may provide a pick-up service. You can find out when you book the hotel. However, the high-speed rail station is remote, and few inns provide high-speed rail station pick-up service. I heard from the boss that the train station is okay. There are many inns in the ancient city, with antique style and earth kang, the average price is around 120, which is very cheap, and it is very convenient to live in the ancient city. There are also hotels of other specifications and grades outside the ancient city.
Row
On the first day, we watched the performance of "Encounter Pingyao". This is a large-scale live-action performance directed by Wang Chaoge. The theater is not far from the west gate of the ancient city. This performance is very worth watching! The performance is very unique, and it is a large-scale scenario that you can personally participate in. The specific content of the performance is——Tell a story about blood inheritance and endless life: At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Zhao Yishuo, the owner of the ticket office in the ancient city of Pingyao, lost his family property and returned a bloodline from Tsarist Russia to the treasurer of the semicolon king. 232 bodyguards from Tongxing Public Escort Bureau went together. Seven years later, Zhao Dong's family and 232 bodyguards all died on the way, and the blood of the Wang family continued...
Many scenic spots in the ancient city appeared in the performance. Visiting the ancient city after watching the performance will give you a better understanding of the scenic spots.
Landmark attractions
Pingyao County Government: It is one of the four most well-preserved ancient government offices in China, and it is also the largest existing county government office in China. According to the practice formed by the feudal society for many years, the government must be located on the central axis of the city, and the Forbidden City in Beijing is located on the central meridian of the old Beijing city. Officials from all over the world are ordered by the "Order of the Son of Heaven" to lead one side of water and soil, and to shepherd one side of the people. Furthermore, the yamen occupies the position of the mean, and it is a place where matters are judged fairly.
In addition to the county government itself, the county magistrate’s trial performances in the county government are also worth seeing.
The county government performance time is 9:30, 11:00, 15:30.
Saturday and Sunday 9:30, 11:00, 15:30, 16:50.
Please consult the front desk of the hotel for the specific time.
Rishengchang Bank: The famous "Rishengchang" has the reputation of connecting the world. On Pingyao West Street, China's first "ticket bank" specializing in foreign exchange, deposit and loan business. This is the "country grandfather" of all kinds of banks in China today.
Synergy Qing Qianzhuang: Qianzhuang is a financial organization that emerged in the late feudal society of China. The main business is currency exchange, and later deposits, loans and exchange services are gradually added. Most of the banks are distributed in the Yangtze River Basin and major cities in the south of the Yangtze River, but the center of the bank industry is in Shanghai. Due to the prosperity of Shanxi merchants, Pingyao also has a lot of Qian Zhuang, and Xie Xieqing is a representative of them. The underground treasury is recommended.
Shilou: It is the most obvious landmark building in the ancient city of Pingyao. There is a golden well at the southeast foot of the Shilou. There is a story about this well. I rubbed off on other people's tour guides, heard the story of Shilou Jinjing, and searched the Internet to share with everyone.
The story goes like this:
"Standing on the city tower overlooking the bustling city. It is called the grand scene of one side. Especially when the rain is clear and the snow is clear, and the sun is projected into the golden well below the city tower, the well water will become golden and shining. The shining city buildings are resplendent and magnificent. So people call this magnificent scene "Golden Well City Building". It is because there is a golden foal in Jinjing.
Not many people know that there is a golden foal in the golden well, but it is inevitable that some ambitious people will come to steal it. According to legend, in the early morning of the last year of the Qing Dynasty, an old man surnamed Zhang got up early for a stroll. When he was going to pass the market building along the South Street, he saw a blond foreigner next to the Jinjing, talking a little Greet the old man in standard Chinese and ask him for a favor.
Old man Zhang has seen quite a few foreigners who are preaching, but they usually hang out in crowds, and this is the first time he has seen a foreigner who wakes up so early by himself. So old man Zhang came to the golden well and asked him what happened.
The foreigner said, "You are waiting up there. One of my things fell into the well. I will go down and salvage it. As long as you see my hand stretched out, give me a hand. I will thank you very much after it is done!" "Old man Zhang saw that the foreigner was very polite, so he agreed.
Not long after the foreigner went down the well, old man Zhang heard the sound of rushing water, and occasionally he seemed to hear the neighing of horses. After a while there was a rustling sound, as if something had climbed up, old man Zhang looked down, oh my god, I saw a giant green hand as big as a dustpan stretched out. Although the old man Zhang had lived to such an advanced age, he had never seen such a battle before. He trembled with fright, then collapsed on the ground and passed out.
At that time, there were already people coming and going. Seeing old man Zhang fainted on the ground, they rushed to rescue him. After the old man woke up, he described what he had just seen, but when people looked at the well, there was no sound at all. Some people said that the time was too long, and the man had already been drowned by the well water.
At this time, an elegant old man who is proficient in local culture came out of the crowd and said: "We have three treasures in Jinzhong area, one is the golden horse in this well, the second is Jiexiu's golden chariot, and the third is That spirit stone, that piece of spirit stone. Probably this foreigner wanted to steal the golden horse, trap the golden car, and then take away the spirit stone. As a result, he was self-defeating, and even threw his life into the well to feed the golden horse.” After listening to it, people suddenly understood, no wonder there is always a golden light radiating from the well after the rain, clear and snow, shining on the city buildings. It turns out that there is a golden horse in the well. "
This is the story of the ancient city building. Unexpectedly, this city building in Pingyao is also related to two other famous cultural cities in Jinzhong, which also benefited from the prosperity of Shanxi merchants. As the saying goes: "Jin Taigu, Yinqi County". Pingyao is just one of the birthplaces of Shanxi merchants, and the prosperity and growth of Shanxi merchants depends on the joint efforts of Shanxi people.
eat
There are so many kinds of snacks in the ancient city! It is recommended to choose a regular restaurant. If it is a store, it is best to find the price clearly marked on the wall. Recommend some that I think are delicious:
Go to the restaurant to recommend these dishes:
Castanopsis chinensis, Camellia oleifera, fried meat, fried buns, bubble oil cake, seabuckthorn yam/honey yam, sliced noodles, eggs with balsamic vinegar, yellow rice cold cake, tofu brain, etc.
It is a restaurant with a better experience in this trip. It has a unique style of Ming and Qing Dynasties. Once you enter, you will smell the incense and elegant tea fragrance, which makes people relax naturally. The design of the restaurant in the lotus wind and drizzle reveals the "beauty of tranquility and elegance" of oriental classics everywhere. There are many exquisite Chinese paintings and wooden chairs with ancient characteristics, which show the good taste of the owner of the restaurant.
Snacks:
Mingqing Street (South Street) is the main street of the ancient city. Government Street, which meets Mingqing Street, is a famous literary old street in the ancient city. Wait.
The yogurt shop is a special one I have been to. As far as I know, when choosing yogurt, many girls will not only look at the yogurt brand, nutrients and colonies, but also decide whether to choose yogurt because of whether the packaging of the yogurt looks good and whether it is INS. I also said that it is more difficult to understand for men, but after all, who would not like things with good looks?
Yogurt is indeed a kind of dairy product that is very good for the human body. Some people say that the yogurt made directly is tens of thousands of times better than the finished product. The yogurt shop, which has a good appearance and good taste, is simply the yogurt of dreams. holy place.
I went to the yogurt shop and ordered a cup of seabuckthorn fried yogurt and a cup of red bean yogurt. In order to taste more different types, I specially ordered an extra fried yogurt with old vinegar. Stir-fried yogurt with old vinegar is a bit strange haha, the previous ones are super delicious The description is also true to its name. Moreover, the cultural creations in the store are also very beautiful. If you want to eat desserts and take pictures, this is a good choice.
live
Regarding accommodation, I am more inclined to choose a homestay. We can enjoy different food, see different scenery, and even choose a residence according to our own preferences. It may be a business hotel, a simple homestay, or a hotel after staying for a long time. , community housing, many people prefer to choose homestays when traveling abroad. There are many reasons for this. Perhaps compared with luxurious and prosperous hotel villas, B&Bs are easier for people to return to nature. Maybe B&Bs have a more homely feeling. When going out, this familiar intimacy will undoubtedly make people feel more at ease.
The B&B-style inns in Pingyao Ancient City are different from B&Bs in other places. Most B&Bs are under formal management.
We were fortunate to experience two different styles of ancient city inns,
Deshenglou Inn on South Street and Xiangchangtai Inn on West Street
The inn in the ancient city, the transportation to the scenic spots is very convenient. The process of traveling is physically exhausting. After a day of running around, I actually want to take a good rest. And the experience in the two inns I chose was very good.
Rather than saying it is a homestay, it is better to say it is an ancient hotel. But living in such a place has many advantages that hotels and homestays have in common.
One is safety. The ancient city inn generally has complete facilities, and all procedures are very formal.
The second is cheap. Although you don’t care about the money you spend when you are away from home, it is really not a good habit to waste it, especially if you spend money, you may not enjoy the equivalent value. To a certain extent, it is true. Very wronged.
The third is down-to-earth, close to the simple life. The owner of Desheng Building is very enthusiastic, and Xiang Changtai's service is also very good. The decoration style of the B&B-style inn is more compact, and various small objects will be placed to match the decoration. Although there is no large front desk, it can feel like home.
purchase
When you travel to Pingyao, you will see a lot of local special products. It takes time to buy special products because you are thinking about who needs to give them away, and at the same time, your vision and touch are constantly screening whether various special products are suitable, which will cause a lot of delay. Too much time seems to be very troublesome.
Therefore, before traveling, through investigation and planning in advance, first decide what to buy and how much to buy, which is an important preparation to reduce troubles!
The famous specialties of Pingyao include: Pingyao beef, yam powder, camellia oleifera, lacquerware, etc.
There are also some well-known Shanxi specialties such as: red dates, Qinzhou yellow millet, Taigu cake and so on.
Buy special products as much as possible at a certain time period, and concentrate on buying them, such as at the airport, station, or special product gathering place in the scenic spot on the return journey. You can first look for them in the process of going, and then adjust the time.
In tourist distribution centers like the North Gate of the ancient city, it is relatively convenient to buy special products, and generally these places will display the most distinctive local items, which are often more popular than the special products you carefully selected during your journey.
We found Du Quanyong when we passed by the North Gate. We went in to have a look beforehand, and bought what we wanted on the return trip. The inconvenient store also provided mailing services. And there are many types of special products, authentic brands, and most importantly, it is really convenient. It is very close to the train station and bus station.
tips
Finally, here is a summary of the important information throughout the article.
1. There are six gates in the ancient city, the north gate is close to Pingyao Bus Station, the west gate is close to Pingyao Railway Station, the south gate and west gate are the places with the most tourists, and the east gate is a residential area.
2. The ancient city can be entered all day; the opening hours of the scenic spots are usually: off-season (December 1-the end of February of the following year) 8:00-17:30
3. The ancient city is free to open, and you need to buy a joint ticket to visit the attractions. The retail price is 125, valid for three days, including a total of 22 attractions, large and small. Note that this is a joint ticket, and there is only this kind of ticket, that is, even if you only visit one point, you need to buy a joint ticket.
4. In winter, almost every household in the ancient city burns coal, and the air quality is not so good, so you must wear a mask!
5. Restaurant: Tianyuankui Hotel on South Street is recommended.
6. Accommodation: South Street recommends Desheng Building, West Street recommends Xiangchangtai
7. Special products of Pingyao: Guanyun beef, bowl holders, ancient city paper-cuts, lacquerware, etc.
8. The Pingyao County Government has a performance of the hall, which is from Monday to Friday, and there will be extra performances on Saturdays and Sundays.
9. It is worth seeing Pingyao again. You can watch the performance in advance and learn about the stories of some scenic spots.
