Today was the first day of my vacation, if you don’t count the traveling I did overnight. It all began last night, at the Xi’an train station. When I arrived, the station, like I expected, was packed to walls. There were people seated on every available space as well as standing and waiting for their trains. Being so close to Chinese New Year, the train system in China is being stressed to its limits. After a two hour wait for my train, we finally took off at a max speed of 120 KPH toward Pingyao. I had from about 11:00PM to 6:15AM to sleep on the train, but due to the jerky motions and stops and starts most of my sleep was pretty unfulfilling. As a result I think I was just as tired when I finally arrived in Pingyao as I was when I first went to sleep.

When I arrived in Pingyao it was still dark. I didn’t really know where to go but I simply followed the other people to the train station exit. On the outside of the train station I must have been asked if I needed a taxi at least 5 or 6 times. I didn’t. The hostel I was looking for was only a couple kilometers away, and I wanted to see the city early in the morning before most people were awake. I stopped for breakfast, and ate some sort of noodles and bread, though I don’t really know what it was called.

My first look at the old city of Pingyao was beautiful. The surrounding city wall and the old buildings within, give it a very quiet and ancient feeling, like stepping back in time a bit. » Read more: The Ancient City of Pingyao