Interesting Towns Between Beijing and Xian
 

As part of my trip I will be travelling by rail from Beijing to Xian, with a stop at Pingyao to see the ancient city. The direct train journeys from Beijing to Pingyao and from there to Xian take ten to twelve hours.

I can shorten the Beijing-Pingyao journey by going via Taiyuan using D trains. I am thinking of breaking up the Pingyao-Xian journey with one or two day stops at towns en-route. The stops on the train route are:

Pingyao
Jiexiu
Lingshi
Huozhou
Hongtong
Linfen
Houma
Wenxi
Yuncheng
Yongji
Fenglingdu
Huashan
Weinan
Xian

So far I have looked at Jiexiu for the Mian Shan Taoist temples (also possible as a day trip from Pingyao) and Yongji for the ancient city of Puzhou and the Guanque tower. However, I notice the tower is re-built so I am not sure it is worth the stop. I am open to advice on other sights or attractions worth spending a day or two on that route. All suggestions are welcome.

I do not speak or read Chinese, although I will be carrying a phrasebook and will have memorised the basic greetings and salutations. If I stop over at "places less travelled" such as Yongji is there likely to be difficulty arranging cabs or accommodation?

TIA

Cheers, Alan, Australia.
Born Under a Wandering Star
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com

I traveled in south west China, where little English is spoken, with just a guidebook and phrase book and it worked out fine. When I walked into a hotel I would point to the right line in the phrasebook (and what else are you going to want in a hotel other than a room?), and the clerk would write down the price. At this point you should bargain - cross it out and write your offer.

For transport you need to be sure that your guidebook has the characters for the places you want to see (forget pinyin, it's useless). I usually wrote the characters out, and then showed them to the bus driver or taxi driver. DO make sure to take the card for your hotel so you can get back!

Can't help with your main question though, I've only gone straight through from Beijing to Xi'an.

Are you looking at overnight trains? If so, I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense to break them up. And if not, you might want to do so - I found them comfortable enough.

I stopped briefly in Jiexiu to change transportation from the Wang Family Courtyards to Pingyao; it's so close that I can't imagine it being a reasonable way to break your trip.

I did spend some time In Taiyuan, and am very glad I did! I recommend Jin Ci - it's a beautiful temple.

I traveled a bit off the usual path of Western tourists (though not terribly far off it!) with only a very few phrases of Chinese - and I had a great time! There were some places where communication was a bit more difficult than elsewhere, but I still managed.

You might find parts of my very long trip report of help - just click on my name to find it.

Hope that helps!