(That's Beijing)
Updated: 2008-02-15 14:23

Pingyao knows that the way to a tourist’s heart is through his stomach. City restaurants cater to foreign tastes with endless variations on the banana pancake theme. But you are well advised to try the local fare. Shanxi noodles come in hundreds of varieties, but don’t get clever and order some Yuncheng specialty –try instead Pingyao’s kao lao lao, dense noodles steamed in a tubular shape served in their bamboo steamer. Or mao erduo mian(“cat ear noodles”), buckwheat noodles shaped in tiny, plump curls. All are served with a choice of tomato and egg or a vinegary mutton sauce. Go native and pour Old Chen vinegar on everything, then chew on some pickled garlic. Beware, however, of Pingyao’s “Champion” beef, which smells as though it has been doused in petrol.

When you hunger for broader horizons, ask your guesthouse to arrange a daytrip with a car and driver. One popular destination is the Qiao Family Courtyard that garnered cinematic fame as the set of Zhang Yimou’s Raise the Red Lantern. But if you only have time for one ancient mansion with prison-like women’s quarters, let it be the lesser-known, more impressive Wang Family Courtyard. The Wang family shared 123 courtyards with more than 1,000 rooms. Until 1995 the farmers of surrounding Linshi County lived within its walls like the Ming dynasty’s filthy rich, until the local government reclaimed the small city and reopened it as a tourist site in 1997.

It is commonly held that the best time to discover Pingyao is in spring. We invite you to buck the conventional wisdom by visiting in the dead of winter, during the Lunar New Year. True, the Spring Festival is China’s peak travel period. But if you leave after the migrant workers have gone home, say on the eve of the holiday, you’ll find that Pingyao’s unique charms and native pleasures really come out during this “Golden Week” when its tourist persona is resting. It’s the perfect escape from Beijing’s eminent loneliness –the chance to trade urban ambitions for folk customs.

Besides the relative lack of tourists, another motive for visiting during the Lunar New Year is the pyromaniacal pleasures that await. Don’t underestimate the fun of this tradition. Foolhardy locals take the lead and the fun is heightened by the sense of lawlessness that arises as children light bottle rockets with cigarettes. The late night din of bianpao explosions are strangely soothing, making you feel at one with the festivities.

Despite the noise, you couldn’t wish for a cozier holiday. After winding through the twisty old-world streets, the red lanterns of your courtyard mansion beckon. Working in the glow of CCTV’s Spring Festival gala, your hosts are wrapping jiaozi with deft motions into such local styles as the zipper, the braids and the “cat eats mouse.” Later, you will dine on these culinary handicrafts and warm huangjiu (rice wine) while reclining on your heated kang bed. Many China fantasies are sated in a single bite.

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