I am planning to spend a few days in Pingyao in April; travelling from Beijing via Taiyuan by D and K trains. After that we intend going to Xian by day train.

The journey is about ten hours, so we would like to break it into two or three parts.

I am seeking advice of pleasant towns on that route which would be nice for a senior English-speaking couple (no Chinese beyond the basic civilities) to spend a few relaxed days in. If they have a local historic or scenic attraction, that would be a bonus. We would need a hotel with Western en-suite toilets but would prefer smaller not-too-modern towns to the big polluted cities.

The possible rail stops en-route are:

Jiexiu
Lingshi
Huozhou
Hongdong
Linfen
Houma
Wenxi
Yuncheng
Yongji
Jishan
Hejian
Hancheng
Fenglingdu
Huashan
Weinan

TIA, Cheers, Alan

We will be traveling between Beijing and Xi'an and plan to stop in both Pingyao and Datong. We would also be interested in hearing if there are any other smaller towns or interesting places to see "old" China.

I'm sorry, I don't know any of these locations (except that I spent about 10 minutes in Jiexiu en route).

I wonder if you have considered the night train for this leg? My experiences on overnight trains in China were positive, and it would free up time to see some other locations. dgunbug mentions Datong, which has some incredibly historic and scenic attractions, but is quite polluted. Wutai Shan had less pollution than anywhere else I visited in China, and holds some interesting scenery and some lovely and unusual temples.

In Taiyuan, do consider visiting Jin Ci - it is a LOVELY temple!

Good luck!

I agree with kja. Spend your time in Datong and/or Wutai Shan, rather than some no name place just because of the train ride.

I may visit the Hanging Temple (rather than Datong) en-route to Pingyao. For sleeper trains we must have a 2-berth with en-suite (spouse's rules) and those are impossible to book from Pingyao.

I may just bite the bullet and take the ten-hour day train. I was really looking for a non-touristy ordinary pleasant Chinese town to veg out in for a few days in between Pingyao and Xian.

No place particular worth a few days of your day, but if you insist, then why not just pick Linfen, which is about half way, and is one of the larger cities in your list. That way, at least there is some chance of finding decent accommodations. But don't expect much English to be spoken at the hotels and restaurants.

If you go further, Huashan has one of the most scenic mountains in Central China, and is a real attraction. But you're almost there at Xian.

Want to add that your train will cross the Yellow River at Fenglingdu, but Linfen is also close to Sanmenxia, the locale of the first major dam across that river. Not sure what kind of tourist facilities they have there, however.

I don't know anything about any of those places, but if neither guidebooks nor wiki nor an internet search turn up any info I'd follow rkkwan''s suggestion and get off halfway - although I might choose the smallest town rather than the largest. You'll be right off the tourist trail and it will surely be interesting. You don't need Mandarin to negotiate for a room (take a phrase book with Chinese characters and be prepared to bargain using pen and paper) or to eat (pointing works well, whether at another table or at ingredients).

Thanks for the comments. I'm still deciding. Linfen is out because of the smog, so is anywhere within 15-20km of it.

Trav_eller - please be sure to report back as soon as possible as my husband and I also plan to travel in china for one month in oct/nov. We are still trying to get a handle on our itinerary which is very similar to yours. We plan though to concentrate in the area between Beijing and xi an and Xian and shanghai. While I'd like to get to guillin, my DH prefers to save that for a separate trip along with southern and Sw china. As I've seen the karst formation in Halong bay and the rice fields of sapa, I'm hoping we don't miss too much by skipping guillin this time. We also intend to travel primarily by train and hire drivers as needed once we arrive in a city. I'm hoping this is doable. We will likely only book our first city hotel so that we have flexibility. Have you determined an itinerary yet?

@dgunbug

I'll try to remember. If I forget to post it here, watch for my blog entries, which I will try to up-date as I travel (although I don't always : http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/

Cheers, Alan

Alan - If you are out there, please send us your travel report. I checked your blog - but there is nothing on this April trip.