Making time for timelessness...

Bird's eye view of our hostel - just sitting in the courtyard is a real cathartic experience!
see all photos »

I could hardly contain myself when, as a teenager, I found myself overseas for the first time, having made the typical Australian pilgrimage to England, and walking through the charming streets of the old town of Canterbury. Stopping frequently, I could do little more than stare in awe at the many buildings which modestly and unobtrusively bore inscriptions, the likes of which I’d never seen before: “1532,” “1609” and “circa 1650.” That hundreds of years had gone by with these streets and houses remaining largely intact is still a realization that I find inspiring.

A view of the main street in the old town
see all photos »

But even if I gradually became accustomed to “Ye Olde Englande’s” pervading sense of living history, nothing whatsoever has prepared me for the stark timelessness of Pingyao. More than 1700 years old, the enduring ancient beauty of this place is regarded by my guidebook as rather more accidental than intentional, being a byproduct of the isolation that Shanxi Province witnessed in the face of Mao’s cultural revolution and ensuing industrialization of much of China’s northeast. “Largely forgotten” is a phrase that effortlessly slips off the tongue – but when you come here, you realize that Pingyao is anything but forgotten by the stampedes of Chinese and international tourists that flock here to experience the place.

When we discovered this carpark with frayed wall paper depicting Chinese families, we had to put ourselves "in context."
see all photos »

Maybe what brings us here is the profound sense that every building, street corner and doorway is a historical experience in itself, and for the traveler, it is a unique privilege to be a part of such an experience.

But it is unquestionably when you look through the doorways and take the time to sit on street corners that it finally dawns on you. Seventeen hundred years of this, you think. For all this time, human beings have lived here. What they are doing now, what I am doing now, they have done for all this time. They have always bought fruit in these market places. They’ve peeled vegetables in doorways. They’ve taught their children how to read and write. They’ve taken horses to nearby cities to trade and discuss important issues. They’ve played games with one another, gossiping and arguing about trivialities. They’ve loved each other in friendship, through hardship and high times.

Close-up view of one area of the hutong hostel
see all photos »

And all the while, Pingyao has been a home to these people, just as it has been my home for the few days I’ve been lucky enough to spend here.