china 3 (6/14)

friday morning, the first day of the trip i could finally sleep in. i couldn't. i woke up around 5:30am for no good reason, and at 5:40am fireworks started going off. for like 10 minutes. why the hell this would happen so damn early in the morning is beyond me. anyway, i eventually got up, went to the other tower to take advantage of their wifi, and later found a bus and went to see twin pagoda temple.

twin pagoda temple, obviously

after that i took the long distance bus to qiaojia dayuan. the long distance bus system in china is complicated. i had no idea what bus i was supposed to be on, so i figured out the "district" then walked from bus to bus asking the driver if this was it. a guy said yes so i boarded. a bit later the bus starts up and he checks everyone's ticket and starts yelling at me about how stupid am i to get on the wrong bus! !!! anyway, this being china, it's all fine anyway so the call the other driver who had just left the lot to come pick me up. he yells at me too. oh well.

modern addition to qiaojia dayuan

qiaojia dayuan was just eh. it's a big compound, filled with lots of things, and they actually do try to make it interesting with dioramas and displays and things but i don't know that much chinese history, nor do i care, and i don't remember the "raise the red lantern" movie, and i didn't watch the tv soap. also, nice as these courtyards as, once you've seen one, you've pretty much seen them all.

courtyard in qiaojia dayuan

rather than do the bus thing again, this time i took a car (with other people) to pingyao. the ride was pretty good. tho i don't believe in past lives, i have a feeling i was a dog previously. i LOVE the wind in my face. makes me so happy! i got picked up by my hostel people and holy crap harmony guesthouse was freaking pretty. it is not the nicest place i've ever stayed, but it is the prettiest! i also got my own room (which i should not have done because after talking to the hotel people about things i realized that i might be a little short on cash later). in any case, i did and it was great because it had it own kang bed.

view from my room door at harmony guesthouse

my room (minus the bathroom)

i went out to explore a bit pretty much fell in love. this is my favorite town of the places i've visited in china. it's got the city walls, which i love and reminds of xi'an. and because it has city walls and is a unesco site, there's nothing terribly modern in the city. no skyscrapers, no ugly tract apartments... yes the main drag is hella touristy but it's still pretty. especially at night.

outside south city walls of pingyao