Today you will be picked up at Taiyuan Railway Station/your hotel in Taiyuan City. Firstly, visit Jinci Temple. Featuring unique cultural relics, the Jinci Temple is a place where almost all the forms of ancient Chinese architectures could be found.

Later drive to Pingyao. En route, pay a visit to Chang’s Mansion. As many people know, there was a famous tea road in ancient China, because it was another international trade road after the silk road. However, most people do not know that the pioneers of the tea road from Fujian Province to the heart of Europe are the mainstay of Jin merchants -- Chang's family from Yuci, Shanxi. Chang's Mansion is different from other Jin merchants' courtyards with its transcendent realm of garden - Jingyuan, which is the largest private garden in the north of China. 

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Arrive in Pingyao Ancient City in the late afternoon. Check into hotel and have dinner.

In the evening you are free on own to explore Pingyao Ancient City.

Taiyuan -  130 km - Pingyao Ancient City

The Ancient City of Pingyao (UNESCO), a well-preserved ancient Chinese city of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, is an must-see attraction for you. Today you will have an in-depth sightseeing in this 2,700-year-old historic and cultural town for a whole day. Your tour guide will pick you up at your hotel in Pingyao, and then firstly admire the Ancient City Wall built with bricks and stones. You can also find that there are more than 100 streets still looking exactly as they were hundreds of years ago in this old city. Approach to Rishengchang Bank - the first bank of China, and get impressed by the Old Government Buildings. In 19th century, Pingyao was the most financially flourishing place, most notably being the founding of the exchange shop named Rishengchang, a milestone in China’s history of finance business. The courtyard houses, narrow streets and small shops in the city provide a complete picture of China’s cultural and social lifestyle during that period of time. 

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In the afternoon, experience Pingyao Paper-cutting under the conduct of a craftsman. In the world of paper-cut art, folk workers can use their imagination to depict the ideal of all, to convey the spirit in the form, express the meaning of beauty and innovation. After the paper-cutting class, you can take away your own "masterpiece" as souvenir. 

Pingyao Ancient City

Wang's Mansion, Shuanglin Temple

After breakfast, pay a visit to Shuanglin Temple. It is not only a Buddhist temple, but can be said as a treasure house of Chinese folk painting art. Inside this temple there are acacia trees planted in Tang Dynasty, steles carved in Song Dynasty, and bells from Ming Dynasty, but what makes it most famous is the more than 2,000 painted clay figurines, which are of high artistic value and have been well preserved to today. You will be amazed at the great blessing in the history of Chinese art.

In the afternoon drive to Lingshi County. The Wang Family Compound is a witness to the past glory of Wang Family, a well-known Shanxi businessman in the Ming and Qing Dynasty. The complex boasts remarkable architecture and artworks of brick and stone sculptures. 

Transfer back to your hotel in Pingyao Old Town/Pingyao Railway Station in the late afternoon.