This is a special post dedicated to our travel companions, even if for a few hours or a few days, that made our experience in China that much more worth it 🙂 . Thanks guys for everything you gave us and the laughs we shared together 🙂 .

This post will be an introduction to a new section of our blog, where various travel companions and friends will write about their experiences of places we’ve already visited so that we can provide you, the readers, with more points of view, experiences and new destinations to add to your future travels.

Meeting our friends in Pingyao

We were better rested when we arrived in Pingyao than we were after our last train journey to Datong, since this time we had the option of a bunk carriage (hard sleeper). We parted ways with Maura and Giuseppe when we boarded the train in Datong, and planned to meet up with them again when we got to Pingyao. We were sharing our cabin with a school group with the funniest kids, who even started calling Fábio ‘Uncle’. That moment, which we captured with a photo, was priceless – even if the photo did come out blurry! Sorry for that! 🙂

We reunited with the Italian couple when we arrived in Pingyao, and we began looking for the best way to get to our respective guesthouses. In the end, a Chinese girl came to our aid and negotiated with the taxi drivers and the tuk tuk drivers, so in the end we went with her. Maura and Guiseppe went on their way as their guesthouse wasn’t in the same direction as ours. This wasn’t a problem, as we ended up meeting up with them again later on that day. As luck would have it Li, the Chinese girl, had just spent the last year in Colombia and so spoke almost perfect Spanish. A Chinese girl who could speak both English and Spanish … What luck, eh? 🙂

We met up with Maura and Guiseppe again in the evening and had dinner at one of the best restaurants we would eat at during our entire stay in China (we ended up going back there 3 times  🙂 ): Le Petit Resto.

After leaving the restaurant we went for ice cream, but they took such a long time serving us that one of our Italian friends got bored 😀 😀 😀 . Meanwhile Noah really enjoyed himself in the company of a little girl he got on really well with.

The next day our Italian friends left Pingyao, but Anne (from France), Adrián and Mario (Spain) had just arrived, so we still had good company  🙂 . In the morning we went to see most of the temples in the city with Li and Laura (another French girl).

In the evening we met up with what seemed like half the Western population of Pingyao 🙂 . We ate in yet another restaurant, because our group was too big for the small restaurant that was our favorite.

The Tian Yuan Kui Guesthouse and restaurant is very beautiful and has delicious food. We might have ordered a little too much, but we ate and drank everything with pleasure.

We could not resist it and the next day we came back to the Petit Resto with Li and Laura 🙂

After our soiree we parted ways with the idea of meeting up again which, being in China, is possible. It would depend a little on our itineraries, though … At the end of the day, China is huge! 🙂

Next stop, the Temples and Houses of Pingyao!