Pingyao: A walk through historic China

Walking and cycling in the city are both perfect ways to quickly absorb its historic vibes. Six gates allow access through Pingyao's massive walls, beyond which motorized vehicles are not allowed. Away from the busy touristy streets, it is easy to feel transported back to an earlier era.

Pingyao was first established over 2,000 years ago during the reign of King Xuan (827-782 BC). The earliest walls, which were earthen, stood mainly northeast of the present location. The massive and strong walls seen today, about 12 meters high with a perimeter enclosing 2.25 square kilometers, were constructed starting from 1370 in the third year of the Ming Emperor Hongwu. However, some sections still show signs of earlier construction.

Walking sections of the walls allows excellent views across the city's many tiled rooftops and down into domestic courtyards, as most buildings within historic Pingyao are mainly low-rise. Grander buildings such as the Confucian Weimao Temple rise distinctly above most domestic and commercial buildings packed tightly together across this amazing testimony to earlier periods from northern China's history.

It felt so easy to feel the grandeur of Pingyao's early days as a major regional trading center while wandering along its Ming and Qing dynasty streets, where I passed the gates of many impressive residences. Red lanterns hung along lanes, outside heavy wooden courtyard doorways. This came with an impressive backdrop or silhouette of the town walls rising above, of several magnificent temples and classical buildings.