2 Days Private Pingyao Tour from Beijing

This morning, you will take a high speed train for around 4 hours from Beijing to Pingyao on your own. We will reserve the train tickets for you. As the E-ticket service is available, a passport is all you need to go through the check entrance before you enter the station.

Upon your arrival, your local guide and driver will pick you up at Pingyao Railway Station and transfer you to the boutique Yide Hotel for a one night's stay. It is a traditional Chinese courtyard hotel with 300 years’ history and located in the central part of Pingyao. With old style architecture and hand-made classical wood fittings, it is more of a place to experience Chinese art and cultures. You will enjoy your stay here!

In the afternoon, start your trip with a visit to the Ancient City of Pingyao. The historical site was originally built 2,700 years ago and expanded during Ming and Qing dynasties (1368 - 1911 AD), featuring a complete city wall, a standard ancient urban layout, and traditional architecture. The essence of Pingyao could be sensed while you are wandering along the Ancient Ming-Qing Street, namely the South Street of the ancient town. Here, you will find various kinds of shops in old buildings, which together generate a prosperous commercial atmosphere the same as hundreds of years ago. Besides, you can also focus on the Temple of the City God, Rishengchang Former Bank, and Tongxinggong Security Guard Company. It is worth mentioning that Rishengchang is one of the earliest exchange shops in China. Finally, you could climb up and walk around the well-preserved Pingyao City Wall, which resembles the outline of a turtle, to have a panoramic view of the streets below - the patterns on the turtle’s back. After the visit, we will escort you back to your hotel.

► Dinner Suggestion: 
To tackle your dinner, just visit the restaurant of your hotel, called Shan Qing Tang. Imagine you dine amid tranquility and ancient charms, oozed from the traditional-style wooden décor that can be only found in Chinese movies. To cater to diverse customer preferences, the restaurant offers both Chinese and Western flavors, with dishes meticulously prepared and served in tableware just as exquisite. By the way, you get to try authentic Jinzhong specialties, also the signatures of the restaurant. Average cost per person: CNY 80 / USD 11.

Accommodation: Yide Hotel

Today we will drive one hour from your hotel to visit the Qiao Family Compound. It is an ancient residential complex with typical traditional architecture seen in northern China. Constructed by the merchant Qiao family, the richest family in Qing Dynasty, from 1756, the compound is reputed as a scaled down folk counterpart of the imperial Forbidden City. The whole complex was built in a shape of double “喜 (Xi)”, or "囍 (Xi)", to express their good wishes, as it is a Chinese character which means joy and happiness.

Nowadays, the Qiao Family compound displays more than 5,000 precious cultural relics which reflect the folk customs in Jinzhong and Pingyao areas. It is also a treasure house to research local residential tradition, various kinds of brick and wood carvings, as well as delicate murals. It is widely known for being the shoot location of the movie Raise the Red Lantern, the 64th Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, telling a fictional story that happened here. Since then, the red lanterns, indicating luck in the movie and in Chinese culture, have become a special feature of this place. You can also follow the film buffs to find the movie scenes if interested.

As your 2 days private Pingyao tour from Beijing ends, we will see you off at the railway station. We hope you have a pleasant onward journey.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast