Pingyao
One of China's best-preserved walled towns, with Ming and Qing streets, courtyard inns and the country's first bank.
Highlights of Pingyao
Inside Pingyao's six-kilometre walls, life still runs along lanes of grey-brick shops and courtyard homes. Stay a night to see it after the day-trippers leave.
The city walls
Walk the ramparts and their 72 watchtowers for views over the tiled roofs.
Rishengchang
The headquarters of China's first draft bank, founded in 1823, which once had branches across the country.
Wang Family Compound
A vast Qing-dynasty mansion of over 100 courtyards, an hour's drive away.
Connections
| To / from | By | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Beijing | High-speed train | about 4 hours |
| Xi'an | High-speed train | about 3 hours |
Times are typical and vary by service.
Tips from our guides
- Stay in a converted courtyard inn inside the walls.
- One combined ticket covers most sights in the old town and lasts three days.
Nearby and nicely paired
3–4 daysBeijing
Six centuries of emperors, the best stretches of the Great Wall, and hutong lanes where neighbours still play cards on the pavement.
1–2 daysDatong
Fifteen-hundred-year-old Buddhas carved into sandstone cliffs, and a temple that clings to a mountainside.
4–5 daysHulunbuir
Endless summer grasslands in Inner Mongolia, with horses, yurts and the Russian border on the horizon.
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