The massive investment in infrastructure caused an interesting phenomenon in China. Some of the freshly-minted highways look great, but there are no cars on it! The drive between Beijing and my hometown is around 15 hours. The road looked like below during two-thirds of the time: e-m-p-t-y..
I was hoping the drive out of Beijing would be like escaping a sandstorm. Somewhere one or two hours away, there should be blue sky, right? No, the grayish smog continued for the day. But the sunset was still beautiful.
Eight hours of drive southwest of Beijing is the ancient city of Pingyao. The whole city, with some quarters as old as over six hundred years, is well-preserved together with its 630-year-old city walls — truly a rarity.
Many old family courtyards were converted to hotels. This one, called Tianyuankui Hotel, has a huge hidden backyard leading to hotel rooms. Below, a corner of the hotel.
Next morning, the place looked different in daylight. The official color of Shanxi province, where Pingyao is located, is unquestionably black. Not only is Shanxi famous for the coal it produces, many buildings there are either black or gray. The red lanterns are therefore essential, to lighten up the living space.
The main street in Pingyao. It must be a charming place five hundred years ago.
Most of the people still live there the old-fashioned way.
The city walls are 6km-long and were built 630 years ago. It survived time, wars and sieges. There are still cannon holes on some parts of the wall.
How Pingyao was so well-preserved is still a mystery to me. Other places were not as lucky. An old family courtyard (a castle, really) about a-hour drive was partially destroyed during the Culture Revolution. Called Wangjia Dayuan, the courtyard was rebuilt several decades ago.
The compound has over 1,000 rooms and provided residence to the Wang family members. The doors and hallways were designed for different people (the masters, the maids, the old and the young) to use in a certain way.
Architecturally, the huge compound has order but is never boring. There are different styles of courtyards, gardens and layouts that provide varieties matching the status of the people living there.
The Wang family became wealthy by being great businessmen. In old China, businessmen were the least respected people. Even peasants looked down on them.
Naturally, the family tried to branch into government, the most respected profession. Though it was successful, the family never lost its tradition of frugality and modesty. There is no mistake that this is a place of a wealthy landlord – not of a noble family, nor a cultured one.
