Difficultto come bySpringFestivalminivacationcan't justbe soeasilylet go by.
After a series of deliberations—persuasions, discussions, votes, and more—our family of three finally decided to drive to Shanxi during the Spring Festival break. The specific route was: Beijing – Qikou Ancient Town – Lijiashan Village – Pingyao Ancient City – Wang Family Courtyard – Zishou Temple – Yuci Ancient City – Beijing. According to old customs, as soon as the New Year’s bell rings, I’m already in my thirties. Since starting university, I’ve had little time to spend with my parents, and even less after joining the workforce. I’ve always felt quite guilty about it. I took this trip as an opportunity to accompany my parents, as a way to show some filial piety. We didn’t take many great photos on this trip; it was more about writing a travelogue to document our family life.
D1:
On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, a little after 10 a.m., our family of three set off from Beijing in our car. We passed through the Fifth Ring Road, the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, and the Beijing-Kunming Expressway, then turned onto the Baofu Expressway (S52) at the west side of Baoding. Although it’s called the Baofu Expressway, the speed limit is 80 or 100 km/h. There weren’t many cars along the way, so we drove at a leisurely pace. At the north side of Xinzhou City, we turned onto the G55 Expressway (this section was formerly part of the Tai Expressway and the Er’guang Expressway), heading toward Taiyuan. After entering the Taiyuan Outer Ring Expressway, we drove west for a while, then immediately exited the ring road upon seeing the sign for Jiexian County direction, and entered S50 (Taijia Expressway), driving all the way toward Jiexian. It’s worth mentioning that, as of now, there are no operational gas stations along the S50 Expressway section I traveled. This was unexpected—I hadn’t refueled since departure, and when the fuel gauge needle hit the red zone, it really worried us. We had no choice but to exit the expressway at the north side of Fangshan County, refuel in Fangshan County town, and then continue. After refueling, we didn’t get back on the expressway but instead took S218, passing through Dawu Town and Sanjiao Town, heading straight for Qikou. We stayed overnight in Qikou Ancient Town. By the time we parked the car, it was already 8 p.m.
D2:
Early the next morning, after breakfast, we said goodbye to the inn owner and began our day of sightseeing. We mainly visited Qikou Ancient Town and Lijiashan Village, and then braved heavy snow to drive to Pingyao Ancient City.
Qikou Ancient Town — located 50 kilometers south of Lin County, Shanxi Province, it is a famous historical and cultural town in China. Historically a military stronghold, during the Ming and Qing dynasties up to the Republican era, Qikou rose to become a renowned commercial hub in northern China thanks to the Yellow River waterway. It connected to Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, and Inner Mongolia to the west, and to Taiyuan, Beijing, and Tianjin to the east, serving as a key economic and cultural junction between east and west, and is honored as the “First Town of the Nine-Turn Yellow River.”
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Qikou Ancient Town — a small courtyard in the town
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Qikou Ancient Town — a two-story building in the town
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Qikou Ancient Town — a corner of a small courtyard
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Qikou Ancient Town — the symbol of fortune and prosperity in the town
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Qikou Ancient Town — the local power supply station
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Qikou Ancient Town — a small courtyard where “I” am in charge
Lijiashan Village, Qikou Town, Lin County, Shanxi — one of the three greatest discoveries in the lifetime of the famous painter Wu Guanzhong. Legend has it that the village was originally named Lijiashan because the first settlers were a family surnamed Li who reclaimed and settled the land. Later, people fleeing famine from Shandong and Henan also came to settle here. Nowadays, the village is mostly inhabited by families with the surnames Zhang, He, Li, and Qi.
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Lijiashan — the Li Mansion One
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Lijiashan — the Li Mansion Two
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Lijiashan — a residence in Lijiashan
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Lijiashan — the layered residences of Lijiashan
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Lijiashan — a residence in Lijiashan Two
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Lijia Mountain―-Residences in Lijia Mountain (No. 3)
Let me share a little anecdote before talking about my driving experience again. Not long after getting on the Qingyin Expressway heading west, I noticed that it had started to snow—and the further west I drove, the heavier the snow became. I often saw car accidents, but many weren’t collisions between vehicles; instead, they were collisions between cars and guardrails. I suspect that the drivers lost control due to sudden skidding, turned the steering wheel too sharply, or failed to manage their speed properly, leading to the crashes. Based on my experience driving on such icy and snowy roads: use a high gear and low speed, follow the existing tire tracks, try to avoid overtaking as much as possible (and if you must overtake, signal to the car ahead early and only proceed when the conditions are right), and do your best to prevent your left and right wheels from driving on different surfaces. Hold the steering wheel firmly and keep it steady. If your car suddenly begins to skid while driving, don’t panic—hold the wheel steady, make slight steering adjustments, and slowly reduce your speed (remember, no sudden steering or hard braking at this point). Braking distance increases X times (X>1) on icy roads, so definitely slow down. Prepare well in advance when approaching intersections. When encountering steep slopes, first maintain a certain speed to ensure you have enough momentum to drive uphill. While going downhill, gradually reduce speed, and when approaching curves, reduce your speed even more. Only after entering a curve should you ease off the brake a bit more. The goal of doing all this is to prevent the driver from not being able to see what’s ahead clearly, to assess whether the road ahead is safe, and to avoid making hasty decisions about braking or turning when the situation isn’t clear. Drive with more caution.
[attach]1374977[/attach] This photo is the only one I took of a snowy road, and even this stretch wasn’t considered particularly slippery that day. The roads were extremely slippery that day—even just lightly pressing the brakes would activate the ABS, and starting in second gear would cause the wheels to slip. Everyone is welcome to discuss driving experiences on icy and snowy roads. After leaving Lijia Mountain, we first followed the Yellow River Highway, borrowed G307, then got on G20 (Qingyin Expressway) heading toward Fenyang. Our original plan was to visit the Wang Family Courtyard first, but after reaching Jiexiu, the Dayun Expressway was closed due to multiple consecutive accidents. We had no choice but to turn north onto G108 and head for Pingyao Ancient City. We stayed at the Zhao Family Residence that night—it was already our second time staying with them, and seeing Boss Zhao and his wife again felt especially warm and familiar.
Here is the D3 day: Pingyao Ancient City
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Pingyao Ancient City―-Zhao Family Residence
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Pingyao Ancient City―the current small courtyard of the Zhao family
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Pingyao Ancient City―a window
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Pingyao Ancient City―-Pang Residence
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Pingyao Ancient City―gate of a small courtyard
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Pingyao Ancient City―-a corner of the inn
D4 Wang Family Courtyard. The Wang Family Courtyard is a masterpiece of Qing Dynasty residential architecture, built between the Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing Dynasty by the descendants of the Taiyuan Wang clan—one of the four great families of Lingshi County in history. It covers an area of more than 250,000 square meters. Currently open to the public as the “China Residential Art Museum” and “China Wang Family Museum,” the complex includes the two main architectural areas of Gaoyajiao and Hongmenbao, the Wang Family Ancestral Hall, and a total of 123 courtyards, 1,118 rooms, and 45,000 square meters of space.
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Wang Family Courtyard―-Yangko dance (two people carrying a pole with someone sitting in the middle)
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Wang Family Courtyard―-Yangko dance (the characters in red and blue clothes in the picture are cross-dressing)
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Wang Family Courtyard―-Yangko dance (the characters in red and blue clothes in the picture are cross-dressing)
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Wang Family Courtyard--one of the smaller courtyards
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Wang Family Courtyard―-the old master’s sedan chair
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Wang Family Courtyard―-a corner of the courtyard
The main part of the Chongning Fort architectural complex on the west side of the Wang Family Courtyard has been largely renovated and newly built. It’s estimated that it won’t be long before it opens to visitors. Future visitors to the Wang Family Courtyard will have one more attraction to explore. After leaving the Wang Family Courtyard, we visited Zishou Temple in Suxi Village, which is about six kilometers away. The 15-yuan admission fee was definitely worth it. According to extant inscriptions, the temple was founded in the 11th year of the Xiantong era of the Tang Dynasty (870), rebuilt during the Song Dynasty, and named “Zishou Temple,” meaning “to provide and grant blessings for the longevity of the common people.” The word “zishou” means to supply or grant. It’s said that during the Song Dynasty, the temple enjoyed relatively thriving incense offerings, with over 20 monks ringing bells and drums daily for prayers and ceremonies. In 1993, shortly after Zishou Temple was restored and reopened, the heads of its eighteen arhats were stolen overnight. After five years abroad, they were finally donated back to their homeland by Mr. Chen Yongtai, chairman of Taiwan’s Rixin Group, on March 29, 1999, allowing the statues to be restored and their Buddhist visages revealed once again. This story has been celebrated as a fine tale of Chinese descendants on both sides of the Taiwan Strait jointly protecting Chinese cultural relics. I didn’t take any photos at Zishou Temple, so I can’t share any pictures with you. But personally, I think it’s definitely worth a visit. After leaving Zishou Temple, the main highlights of our trip were complete, and our primary task became heading home. On the way back, we passed by the Chang Family Manor but didn’t go in, planning to visit in the summer instead. We stopped by Yuci Ancient City, walked around briefly, and then made a loop around Taiyuan City. Here are two photos of Yuci Ancient City:
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Yuci Ancient City One
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Yuci Ancient City Two
We finally hit the road for home after leaving Taiyuan. I had originally thought about stopping in Baoding to grab a donkey burger, but considering it had just been New Year’s and restaurants might not yet be open, I ultimately gave up on the idea. If you’re traveling this route at another time, stopping in Baoding for a donkey burger is totally a solid plan—there are even 24-hour donkey burger shops there. The return trip mainly followed G108 and the Beijing-Kunming Expressway, and I finally got home at 4 a.m. the next day. This whole trip covered a total of 1,780 kilometers. **Final thoughts:** 1. If you’re traveling this route during the New Year period, it’s best to prepare extra food. Bringing a camping stove would be even better—many restaurants are still closed shortly after the holidays, making meals a bit inconvenient. 2. Whether in Lijia Mountain or Pingyao Ancient City, whenever we visited locals’ homes, we were always warmly welcomed. Many times, we were invited inside to take a look, and the hosts eagerly shared stories about their families. When we asked for directions along the way, the locals were also very kind and helpful. These sincere and warm gestures deeply touched us, and here we’d like to say thank you to those we met just once. My mom, visiting Shanxi for the first time, couldn’t stop saying how much she liked the people here—I almost joked about finding her a Shanxi daughter-in-law, haha. Anyone still single at this age can probably relate? My parents are starting to get anxious, haha, guess the parental pressure is pretty intense, right? How many of you viewers will be set up on blind dates during this Spring Festival holiday!? Just teasing my mom and now the audience—man, I’m so bad!! ~~~ Haha, I’m outta here~~~~~