it’s 7am and stretch and i are in bed together, that said the bed is 9 ft wide and could easily fit a few more people between us! we’re in the town of pingyao, it’s been everything i hoped to find in china. we took a night train from beijing to taijaun, a horrible city where we stared at continuosly, then 2 more hours to pingyao. this town is built within a huge 4 mile wall, ever inch is years of layers of living, culture and dust. the children say hello as you walk past, if they can they’ll ask your name or more. every open doorway leads to a maze of courtyards that you want to explore. i’ve had to stop my self taking too many pictures.
last night we went for a guess and see meal, which turned out to be beef fat and corriander, followed by a nightclub. odd this quiet traditional town would be playing hardcore techno to 30 pogoing sober young men in blazers. hardly anyone was sat down, and before long niether were we. 2 mins later stretch starts a breakdance competition with the locals… the techno stopped and the staff slow danced to christmas carols on the pan pipes. honestly. after making friends with the manager and his family we made our way back through the pitch black alleyways to our hotel. still sober, only 11 pm and we were locked out!
note on photo set: The red banners basicly say happy new year. Good luck. Etc. they stay up all year round. Pingyao is famous for it’s new years celebrations and has more of these banners than anywhere else. What is beautiful is, the very last picture. 17. has blue banners. Blue indicates that a member of the family died that year. Our guide seemed very sad when ever we passed one. Even though it’s a bit like having a post-it note on your front door saying, grandpa died last year, I still find it beautiful.