3 Days Pingyao Essence Tour
Day by Day Itinerary
Tour Summary
Reviews
B=Breakfast,L=Lunch,D=Dinner
Day 1
Arrive in Pingyao
Transfer via: Train (Train from Beijing, Xian or Taiyuan, train tickets excluding)
Sightseeing: Shuanglin Temple, Wang Family Courtyard
Upon arrival, you will be met by your local guide and then drive to Qiaotuo Village to visit Shuanglin Temple. The temple is a Buddhist temple with a long history. All cultural relics inside the temple, such as the pagoda trees planted during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), stone tablets from the Song Dynasty, bells from the Ming Dynasty, colored sculptures and ancient constructions, are considered invaluable. The colored sculptures have won great acclaim in the world. The Shuanglin Temple was constructed on a large scale, but was reduced to ruins during many years of war. It was renovated during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and renamed Shuanglin Temple. What remains of the temple today are mainly the ruins of the Ming (1368-1644) construction.
Then we will continue drive to see the Wang Family Courtyard, it is the largest-existing folk residence cluster in China and a model of the merchant family's residence in North China's Shanxi Province, demonstrating the quintessence of Chinese architectural art and cultural values. The Wang Family Courtyard is situated in Jingsheng Town, 12 kms east of Lingshi County, 35 kms from Pingyao. This luxurious residence covers about 45,000 square meters with 123 compounds and 1,118 rooms and took about half a century (1762-1811) to build.
Day 2
Pingyao (B, L)
Sightseeing: Pingyao Old Town, The Ancient City Wall, The Rishengchang Draft Bank, The Ming-Qing Street.
Today we will have the full day visit The Old Town of Pingyao, it is in Pingyao County, in the center of Shanxi Province. It was constructed during the reign of King Xuan of the Western Zhou Dynasty (C.1100-771B.C.) and has been the county seat ever since the establishment of the prefecture-and-county system in ancient China. Today, Pingyao looks much the same as it did during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties and is the best-preserved historic town in the regions populated by the Han ethnic group.
The Ancient City Wall in Pingyao Town is located in the middle of Shanxi Province. First built about 2,700 years ago, it was expanded in the Ming and Qing Dynasty. It is the most well-preserved wall among the ancient historical and cultural cities in China, and also an early and largest city wall in Shanxi Province. The present city wall is mainly in the form and structure of Ming Dynasty, with a total length of 6.4 kilometers.
Rishengchang Draft Bank is a financial institute which appeared from Qing Dynasty, the earliest draft bank is Rishengchang Draft Bank, whose owner is Mr. in Pingyao County of Shanxi Province. It was mainly devoted in handling remittance, money exchange, deposit, loan and other financial business. There were 35 branches in China's big and medium-sized cities. Its business covered Europe, America and Southeast Asia. And the Rishengchang Draft Bank had been the financial center of China for about 100 years.
The Ming-Qing Street is located in the South Street of the town. With a length of 440 meters, the street used to be the commercial center of Pingyao ancient city. The traditional and orderly-located shops of the Ming and Qing Dynasties are still well preserved. The cross-street Town House is the highest building of the city (18.5 meters high). On its top, you can take a whole view of the Ming–Qing Street. Walking along the street, tourists can get the first-hand experience of ancient China.
Day 3
Pingyao/Departure (B)
Transfer via: Train (train tickets excluding, but we can arrange it as per your requests)
Enjoy some leisure time today until your guide will transfer you to the railway station for the train to next destination.
B=Breakfast,L=Lunch,D=Dinner
| Tour Dates | Destinations | Services Provided | Meals Included | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 |
Pingyao
|
Shuanglin Temple, Wang Family Courtyard.
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Day 2 |
Pingyao
|
Pingyao Old Town , Ancient City Wall of Pingyao , Rishengchang Draft Bank , The Ming-Qing Street .
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Day 3 |
Pingyao
|
Free at leisure till be transferred to railway station for your train departure. |
|
-NOTE:
1. Normally hotels allow a maximum of 3 adults per room with an extra bed, at extra charge. Some hotels will allow three adults and a small child.
2. Tour price is indicative only, please enquire for a detailed quotation.
3. More people more discounts. Please enquire for more details.
Price Includes
A. Entrance fees:To scenic spots as listed above in the itinerary.
B. Meals: All meals as specified in the itinerary.
C. Private Transfers: Among airports, hotels and scenic spots while sightseeing in the above cities by the private air conditioned vehicle.
D. Guide and Driver: As outlined in the itinerary, a well selected English-speaking guide and driver will accompany you throughout the entire tour in that city. They do not fly with you from one city to another.
E. Hotels: Hotel Based on two persons sharing one room with twin beds. All hotels as listed in the above itinerary serve daily western or Chinese breakfast. All rooms are air-conditioned with private facilities unless specified.
F. Luggage Transfers: Between airports and hotels.
G. Service Charge & Government Taxes.
H. Travel insurance in mainland China during the above travel period.
I. Arrangements: The tour cost includes planning, handling, operational and communication charges.
Our 8-day Guilin Natural Scenery Ethnic Minority Discovery tour with Visit Our China was truly a wonderful and unforgettable experience. Everything was perfectly organized and ran very smoothly from beginning to end. From our very first communication with Lisa, we felt confident that everything would be well taken care of. She was always easy to reach, responsive, flexible, and very personable. The hotels she selected for us were all clean, comfortable, and of excellent quality. Our tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable and very patient with all of our questions. She was attentive to our group's preferences, adapted quickly to our requests, and was always willing to give us extra time whenever we wanted to stay longer at a particular location. Our bus driver was also highly experienced and drove very carefully, making us feel safe and comfortable throughout the journey. We will always cherish the wonderful memories we made during our tour in Guilin. Thank you, Lisa, for your outstanding service and for making our trip such a memorable experience.
- Booking Code:VOC-20260711
- Tour Starting Date:Saturday, 11 July 2026
- Client's information:Inge, Belgium
Muchas gracias Señor Su por llevarnos sanos y salvos a Fenghuang. Lamento las molestias y el mal entendido de la llegada a nuestro hotel. Hemos disfrutado mucho de esta preciosa ciudad y ahora vamos hacia Zhangjiajie. Muchas gracias Lisa también por tu trabajo de organización.
- Booking Code:VOC-20260710
- Tour Starting Date:Friday, 10 July 2026
- Client's information:Rosa, Spain
Thanks Lisa! It was a great trip. Luther is an excellent guide, very helpful and proactive. Ms Xuli is very knowledgeable, unfortunately our mandarin is functional at best, so she had to explain a lot of the cultural references she was using. Simon managed to last minute closures and changes well. We learnt a lot, ate a lot (really liked the lunch at Yibin, ciqikou and dinner Lizhuang). Next time I will factor in more time for shopping.
- Booking Code:VOC-20260612
- Tour Starting Date:Friday, 12 June 2026
- Client's information:Lihoon, Singapore
I had an incredible private tour of Hangzhou and Huangshan with your team! You replied to my messages super quickly, and all travel arrangements were perfectly done, I couldn’t be happier. Special thanks to all our staff: Guide Li driver in Huangshan, Guide Lin and Master Xie in Hangzhou—they were all absolutely brilliant, warm and helpful the whole time. I will absolutely contact you again for my next trip to China, and I will strongly recommend your agency to all my friends.
- Booking Code:VOC-20260601
- Tour Starting Date:Monday, 1 June 2026
- Client's information:Elna, Singapore
Dear Lisa,I am writing to express my sincere gratitude for organizing such a fantastic private Yunnan tour for us. We visited Kunming, Dali, and Lijiang, we thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this journey.I want to give special thanks to all our tour guides and drivers. It was their thoughtful, professional service that made our entire trip brilliant and truly unforgettable.Yunnan is incredibly beautiful, and all the local people we met there were warm and friendly. Thank you again for arranging everything perfectly for us.Take care! When we plan our trip to other regions of China in the future, we will definitely get in touch with you again.Best regards,
- Booking Code:VOC-20260513
- Tour Starting Date:Wednesday, 13 May 2026
- Client's information:Lingling- Singapore
Thank you so much for arranging my whole Yunnan tour to Kunming, Yuanyang, Jianshui, Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La. Everything went perfectly well!All three drivers and tour guides were super professional. Please help me send my full excellent comment to Guide Zheng Jun, I forgot to write feedback for him after the trip. He was very careful and gave very detailed introductions everywhere we visited.Big thanks to Driver Zheng Nan as well. He helped me a lot during the trip. I left my purchased items and couldn’t bring them home, and he kindly helped mail them to me afterward. I’m so grateful for his help.Please tell all guides and drivers that their professional service is amazing, keep it up! This trip is absolutely fantastic.
- Booking Code:VOC-20260422
- Tour Starting Date:Wednesday, 22 April 2026
- Client's information:Joyce- Singapore
Quick Questions
Our team is waiting for your questions. Please feel free to ask us any questions you might have about our China package tours, Chinese culture, or the sites available. We will gladly help you with any special needs you might have and all questions, like our trip designing is completely free of charge.

