pingyao

so i arrived in pingyao on the overnight train from beijing at about 7am. a man on the train gave me his card and said he has a hotel inside the city walls. i told him that i wasn't planning on staying the night and that i was hoping to catch the overnight to xian that same evening. he told me that he could help me book the train though and that i could stash my bags at the hotel so i jumped on the back of his motorcycle and headed off from the station. pingyao is the only city in china with its complete wall intact. it is a poor city though and so the buildings are all a thousand years old. i met a tourguide who spoke english and she said she would give me a free tour just so she could practice her english. i thought 'bonus' and told her i would meet her after i biked the 7km around the top of the wall. we spent the day going to really old temples and china's first banks (back in the day pingyao was a capital). the hotel manager in the meantime booked me a ticket (or so he told me). apparently, there are no hard sleeper beds available from pingyao to xian because the train is in transit from some other city. well, he ended up sneaking me into the station, bribed the security at the tracks and basically stowed me away in the back car. i had to go in from the tracks instead of the platorm. i spent 14 hours in a top bunk hidng all evidence of my existence from the train staff. pretty crazy. i haven't slept or showered really in three days and counting. for most of you, you probably think 'big deal jamie' but i think my bed from beijing had mites. i really want a shower.