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 | ||||||||||||||
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Day 1 |
Pingyao
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Shuanglin Temple, Wang Family Courtyard.
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Day 2 |
Pingyao
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Pingyao Old Town , Ancient City Wall of Pingyao , Rishengchang Draft Bank , The Ming-Qing Street .
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Day 3 |
Pingyao
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Free at leisure till be transferred to railway station for your train departure. |
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-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.
Had an amazing experience with visitourchina during my recent tour to Zhangjiajie. Lisa was very helpful and catered to all my requests for the tour. We wished we had more days to see more of Zhangjiajie. As we are travelling with my elderly parents, we requested for more elderly-friendly itinerary in Zhangjiajie. Even though the trip is still a bit tough for my mum as she has knee problems, my family still enjoyed the tour. Special thank you to Lisa and Max, our guide.
- Booking Code:VOC-20241116
- Tour Starting Date:Saturday, 16 November 2024
- Client's information:Vanessa,Singapore

The services rendered from the travel agency is prompt. Very responsive and cater my tour according to my requests. The tour guides assigned to us were also caring and helpful. I continue to seek inquiries after our tour ended and they continued to response promptly. This is my second trip with this company and will continue to engage them when I next return to China.
- Booking Code:VOC-20241103
- Tour Starting Date:Sunday, 3 November 2024
- Client's information:Wendy, Singapore

How to navigate China for the second time after 45 years for a couple over 70 years old? We spent part of our honeymoon in China in 1978 together with a Spanish speaking tour group when China just opened its door to the outside world. It was the era of "Friendship stores" and "food ration coupons". Tourists could only shop at government designated stores and the ordinary local people lived on rationed food, notwithstanding, tourists were treated with the highest honor and the best of everything including food. By then, the main transportation tool in cities were bicycles. From balconies of hotels, we saw never ending long queue of people on bicycles heading to work every morning. Since then, China has developed into a super modern and industrialized country. Shopping is a bliss nowadays. Motorized vehicles and lots of EV has replaced a huge part of the fleet of human-driven bicycles since. Infrastructure-wise China is the pioneer nowadays. Over the years, the only retained memories are the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and the Pandas. There was an incident which I could not forget either. We went to a theater at night for an opera and I lost my wallet with all my documents and some money ( a small fortune for the Chinese people by then). I was very nervous and didn't know what to do. When we got back to the hotel, my wallet was waiting for me at the reception. Somebody found it at the theatre and sent it to the hotel where we were lodged. Everything was back, nothing missing. Again, it was 1978! Impressed! So, we wanted to visit China again to revive the lost sweet memories and hoping to gain more of them. Being seniors, we don't have the energy to follow a vigorous group tour anymore. Could we plan and schedule our own tour in this wonderland like the modern China? The answer is simple, No! I don't know the language well enough and have no knowledge of the city areas for choices like accommodations and transportations. In order to travel safely, efficient...
- Booking Code:VOC-20241016B
- Tour Starting Date:Wednesday, 16 October 2024
- Client's information:Cheng, Canada

I found Lisa from Trip Advisor and started chatting with her and send my requirements for which she planned excellent tours for me in between my spare time during Canton Fair. She planned and managed the trip so well and professionally and provided me with such an excellent follow up services that we ended up becoming very good friends. A wonderful person to look into for all your China Travel needs. Highly recommended for good planning, timing, and organization of your vacation.
- Booking Code:VOC-20241009
- Tour Starting Date:Wednesday, 9 October 2024
- Client's information:Ismail Soni,Canada

Booked a 2 day private tour of Xi’an with Grace as our local tour guide. Really good service from both the booking agent Lisa as well as Grace and the driver Mr Wang. Managed to see all the big sights including Terracotta Warriors, City Wall, Bell Tower and Big Wild Goose Pagoda. They took care of everything and gave good local food recommendations. Travelled with my father who walks quite slow, but they managed to accomodate him no problem. 10/10 would recommend.
- Booking Code:VOC-20240723
- Tour Starting Date:Tuesday, 23 July 2024
- Client's information:Julian,Singapore
Hello, dear Lisa! Happy to be in Guilin and very pleased to meet you! Thank you for a wonderful tours!!! Every day is filled with magnificient views and unforgetable moments! I would like to Thank you for all these events! Special thanks for Beijing tour. Happy to visit so many places in China ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ wonderful country and wonderful people! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Both tours to Guilin and Beijing were amazing! I visited so many wonderful places! The guides were very friendly and hospitable, thanks for everything! Happy to choose this agency because the programme included all interesting places and they did their best to make my Dreams come true!
- Booking Code:VOC-20240713
- Tour Starting Date:Saturday, 13 July 2024
- Client's information:Elena, Russia
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