Pingyao travel guide for foreign visitors

Best time to visit

Jan
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From the airport or station to the city

Where you land, the ways into the city centre, how long each takes and what it costs.

From Pingyao Gucheng Station (high-speed rail)

平遥古城站

BusTime25–35 minCost¥1–2
Bus 108 runs from the station to the old town’s north and south gates. Taiyuan South is about 40–50 minutes away by high-speed train; Taiyuan is the nearest airport with international flights.
TaxiTime15–20 minCost¥20–40
The station is about 10 km from the old town. Taxis and DiDi wait outside; many guesthouses also offer pickup. Cars stop at the gates, as traffic inside the walls is restricted.

From Pingyao Station (regular trains)

平遥站

TaxiTime10–15 minCost¥0–10
About 1 km west of the city wall: a 10–15 minute walk to the west gates, or a short electric-cart ride.

Getting around

The walled old town is about 1.5 km across and best explored on foot or by rented bicycle; cars stay outside the gates and electric carts shuttle visitors inside. Shuanglin and Zhenguo temples are 6–12 km out: take a taxi, DiDi or a hotel-arranged car. For the Wang Family Courtyard (about 35 km south), hire a car or take the bus from Pingyao bus station. Pingyao (Jinzhong) is outside the 240-hour visa-free transit area, which in Shanxi covers only Taiyuan and Datong. Keep your passport handy; the combined ticket is checked by passport at every site.

Top sights

Grey-tiled rooftops and a straight street seen from the city wall

平遥古城Pingyao Ancient City (combined ticket)One of China’s best-preserved Ming and Qing walled towns, with old banks, courtyard houses and temples; a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Booking recommended1.5–2 days

平遥古城墙Pingyao City WallA 6 km Ming dynasty brick wall with 72 watchtowers and barbican gates, giving rooftop views over the whole town.Booking recommended1–2 hours

Street facade of the Rishengchang draft bank

日升昌票号Rishengchang Exchange ShopChina’s first draft bank, founded in 1823, where Shanxi merchants invented cheque-like remittances; now a museum of the old banking courtyards.Booking recommended45 minutes

Courtyard and halls of the Pingyao county yamen

平遥县衙Pingyao County Government OfficeOne of China’s best-preserved county courts and offices, with a courtroom, jail and magistrate’s quarters; mock trials are staged in season.Booking recommended1 hour

双林寺Shuanglin TempleA modest-looking temple holding over 2,000 painted clay statues from the Song to the Qing, some of the finest in China.1.5 hours

Wanfo Hall, a 10th-century timber hall at Zhenguo Temple

镇国寺Zhenguo TempleA quiet village temple whose Wanfo Hall, built in 963, is one of the oldest wooden buildings in China, with original statues inside.1 hour

Grey-tiled rooftops of the Hongmenbao compound at the Wang Family Courtyard

王家大院Wang Family Courtyard (day trip)A vast hillside mansion of a Qing merchant clan: over 100 linked courtyards with fine carved brick, wood and stone.Booking recommended2–3 hours on site; about 1 hour each way

Incense burner before the Dacheng Hall of Pingyao Confucius Temple

平遥文庙Pingyao Confucius TempleThe old town’s Confucian temple and county school; its Dacheng Hall, rebuilt in 1163, is the only Jin dynasty main hall surviving in any Confucius temple in China.Booking recommended45 minutes

Ornate glazed-tile gate of the City God Temple in Pingyao

平遥城隍庙Pingyao City God TempleA Qing-era temple complex to the town’s guardian god, with the God of Wealth and Kitchen God temples alongside, colourful glazed roofs and an opera stage.Booking recommended30–45 minutes

Lantern-hung courtyard of the Jingyi Yard in the Qiao Family Compound

乔家大院Qiao Family Courtyard (day trip)The fortified mansion of a Qing merchant-banking family, with six large courtyards, carved screens and a folk-custom museum; the setting of the film Raise the Red Lantern.Booking recommended2–3 hours on site; about 1 hour each way 张壁古堡Zhangbi Ancient Castle (day trip)A fortified village on a loess plateau with stone-paved lanes, small temples and a multi-level network of ancient defensive tunnels you can walk through.2 hours on site; about 45 minutes each way

Cliff-hugging walkway and temple on the sheer rock walls of Mount Mian

绵山Mount Mian (Mianshan, day trip)A gorge-cut mountain with Taoist and Buddhist temples built into sheer cliffs, plank walkways and waterfalls; linked to the legend of Jie Zitui and the Cold Food Festival.Booking recommendedA full day (5–7 hours on site)又见平遥“Encore Pingyao” immersive showA 90-minute walk-through theatre production in a purpose-built hall just outside the old town, telling a Qing-era banking family’s story as you move from room to room.Booking recommendedAbout 2 hours including check-in 曹家大院（三多堂）Cao Family Mansion (Sanduotang, day trip)The fortress-like mansion of the Cao merchant family in Taigu, with tall courtyard towers and a collection of family treasures, including antique clocks and a marble screen of a hundred “longevity” characters.1.5–2 hours on site

Courtyard and halls of Qingxu Taoist Temple in Pingyao

清虚观Qingxu Taoist TempleThe largest Taoist temple inside the walls, at the east end of East Street, with old halls, stone steles and the Pingyao county museum collection.Booking recommended45 minutes

The Market Tower (Shi Lou) rising over Pingyao’s Nan Dajie street

市楼Shi Tower (Market Tower)The three-storey Qing-style tower straddling South Street at the heart of the old town, with yellow-and-green glazed roof tiles; climb it for views over the grey rooftops.20–30 minutes

Gate tower and walled forecourt of the Chang Family Manor

常家庄园Chang Family Manor (day trip)The vast estate of a Shanxi merchant family known for scholarship, with dozens of courtyards, a big northern-style garden, an ancestral hall and a library tower.Booking recommended2–3 hours on site

Hall of the Holy Mother at Jinci Temple, seen across the Flying Bridge

晋祠Jinci Temple (Taiyuan, day trip)A spring-fed temple garden at the foot of the hills outside Taiyuan, famous for its Song-dynasty Hall of the Holy Mother with lifelike painted clay maids and the cross-shaped Flying Bridge over a fish pond.Booking recommended2–3 hours on site

Map

What to eat here

平遥牛肉Pingyao beefSalt-cured, slow-cooked beef served cold in thin slices; the town’s famous product, also sold vacuum-packed.

碗托Buckwheat jelly (wantuo)Steamed buckwheat jelly cut into strips and dressed with vinegar, garlic and chilli oil; a cheap street snack.

莜面栲栳栳Oat noodle rollsThin rolls of oat dough steamed in a honeycomb pattern, dipped in a hot mutton or tomato-egg sauce.

过油肉Shanxi fried porkShanxi’s signature stir-fry: tender pork slices flash-fried, then tossed with wood-ear mushrooms and a dash of aged vinegar.

猫耳朵Cat’s-ear pastaSmall curled pieces of dough pinched by thumb, stir-fried with vegetables and meat or served in soup.

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