Pingyao, Ming Dynasty, China Banking Capital

A typical day of tourism in Pingyao starts with registration at the official tourist office and collection of your tickets for every single attraction in the city. The restaurants in Pingyao were inexpensive and many were very real Chinese restaurants with just a few selling western food. The first one we tried for lunch, was serving dog stew, but my other half made it clear that if I even contemplated eating it she would leave me, so we went next door and ate very mediocre pizza. Dinner was far better however, in a beautiful Chinese courtyard restaurant.

We stayed in the Yide Guesthouse, which I would certainly recommend. Very simple and extremely cheap (just a few pounds for a simple ensuite room), with a decent breakfast included. Reasonable food was available and the restaurant and bar made a great place to relax.