Pingyao has the only complete city walls left from the Ming Dynasty and is one of the best preserved towns of its age in the world.

Hire bikes. This not only gets you round the town much quicker but is a really nice way to explore. You can even venture out of the town, perhaps visiting the Shuanglin Temple.

We love the Hongshanyi Hotel here. There aren’t big chains of hotels and everything is very much a guesthouse feel but the Hongshanyi is as luxury feeling as these courtyards get and the rooms are clean and comfortable. The building is actually a set of courtyards and is a kind of microcosm of Pingyao as a whole. It’s still great value for the quality of the place and gives you a slice of traditional life with a bit extra comfort.

At the more modest end of the spectrum or for the single traveller you might as well be right in the centre of it all at somewhere like the De Ju Yuan Guesthouse. It’s traditional styled and clean and has some really helpful staff, even if they do struggle a little with their English, they’ll do everything they can to help.

For something High end Jing’s Residence can’t be beat.