16 hours in pingyao

though i had no actual vacation days left over the the holidays, i did end up with two four day weekends. our managing director graciously gave us the 26th off. the government gave everybody the 2nd off as well, and my company doesn't truck with most other firms that made people come in to work on sunday the 4th. therefore, i figured i'd head off somewhere to kill some time and get out of beijing. that somewhere was pingyao.

pingyao is a small city in shanxi province, to the southwest of beijing. as far as i know the city formed during the ming dynasty (1400s-1600s), but rose to prominence as a banking capital during the qing (1800s). the place has been preserved well, with complete city walls and several sites of old banking houses, temples, and government offices. an estate nearby was where raise the red lantern was filmed. nowadays, shanxi province is known for its coal industry, an aspect that was fully apparent while we were there: pingyao is the most polluted place i have ever been. it smelled like sitting behind a diesel truck whenever you were outside. beijing seems like montana in comparison.

as a result i'm still not sure how i feel about the place. i had a good enough time, and have conditionally recommended that others go there. but would i go again? definitely not.