Pingyao Tours
31 years after the Stock Exchange began in Wall Street, Chinese banking began in Pingyao in 1823. When the world was busy changing its face, it kept its appearance of 2,700 years ago. You don't need a time machine — just come to Pingyao, and you will see the birthplace of "China's Wall Street", and experience the history of the best-preserved ancient town in China.
Pingyao is like a scroll displaying the development of China's economy, culture, society, and religion for nearly 3,000 years — the First Bank in China, displays of old armed escort companies, colored mud sculptures, wooden temples, the ancient city wall… every corner has its unique story.
Our Pingyao package tours pick out the most representative sights, utilize time efficiently, and thoughtfully present the gems of ancient Pingyao to you. We are flexible to tailoring your own trip according to your schedule, and offer professional suggestions.
Most Popular Pingyao Tour

Experience the rich ancient culture of China in the best preserved ancient walled town — Pingyao Ancient Town

Explore the Buddhism relics- Yungang Grottoesin Datong, combine with the Pingyao Ancient Town and Wang's Family Compound.

Visit the most important historical sites in China- Great Wall, Yungang Grottoes, Pingyao Ancient Twon and Terra-Cotta Warriors.

Immerse yourself into the glory history and stories of imperial family in Beijing, and touch the ordinary life of merchant in Pingyao.

This tour combined Beijing, Pingyao and Xian by bullet train, smart way to save the cost and enjoy the scenery along the way.
Pingyao Ancient City and Surrounding

Pingyao Vicinity Map

Common Questions Travelers Ask Us
1. What are the best sightseeing and transportation options in Datong and Pingyao?
It is recommended to spend one day in Datong (to see the town's attractions and the Yungang Grottoes,), one day traveling from Datong to Pingyao and sightseeing on the way (to see the Hanging Monastery, Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, and the Wang Family Courtyard), and one day in Pingyao Ancient Town. The best way to get to Pingyao from Datong is to have a private vehicle. In order to have the most flexibility to enjoy the attractions along the way, we have a four-day package tour that includes the most representative attractions in Datong and Pingyao
2. What are the transportation links between Beijing and Datong?
There are two ways to get to Datong from Beijing: airplane and train. There are two daily flights from Beijing to Datong that depart in the early morning and late afternoon. The flights take 55 minutes. The train journeys take between 6½ and 8 hours, and most of them are overnight trains. They depart in the late evening (around 11pm) and arrive in the early morning.
3. What is an overnight train like? How is a train ticket booked?
For overnight trains, we recommend soft sleepers. There are four bunks in a compartment with a door for privacy. Each bunk has a pillow and a blanket. The toilets are at the end of the carriage and may be a Western toilet; however, they may not always be clean as they are used by people from other carriages. We can book the train ticket for you, and will usually purchase the ticket for a bottom bunk in the compartment, which is easier and steadier. If you do not want to share the compartment with other people, we can also book the whole compartment (four tickets).
4. What is the recommended transportation between Beijing, Pingyao, and Xi'an?
The fastest and easiest way between these three cities is to travel on the CRH (China Railway High-Speed), also known as the bullet train. Below are the schedules of the trains:
Beijing Xi (Beijing West Railway Station) – Pingyaogucheng (Pingyao Ancient Town Railway Station)
Train Number | Departure City to Arrival City | Duration |
---|---|---|
D2001 | 07:52 Beijing Xi – 12:08 Pingyaogucheng | 4h 16m |
G609 | 10:33 Beijing Xi – 14:32 Pingyaogucheng | 3h 59m |
D2005 | 15:29 Beijing Xi – 19:45 Pingyaogucheng | 4h 16m |
Pingyaogucheng (Pingyao Ancient Town Railway Station) – Beijing Xi (Beijing West Railway Station)
Train Number | Departure City to Arrival City | Duration |
---|---|---|
D2002 | 08:42 Pingyaogucheng – 12:55 Beijing Xi | 4h 13m |
G616 | 13:40 Pingyaogucheng – 17:28 Beijing Xi | 3h 48m |
D2006 | 16:16 Pingyaogucheng – 20:39 Beijing Xi | 4h 23m |
Xi'an Bei (Xi'an North Railway Station) – Pingyaogucheng (Pingyao Ancient Town Railway Station)
Train Number | Departure City to Arrival City | Duration |
---|---|---|
D2506 | 09:38 Xi'an Bei – 12:23 Pingyaogucheng | 2h 45m |
D2512 | 11:07 Xi'an Bei – 14:14 Pingyaogucheng | 3h 07m |
D2514 | 12:10 Xi'an Bei – 15:10 Pingyaogucheng | 3h |
D2518 | 13:40 Xi'an Bei – 16:47 Pingyaogucheng | 3h 07m |
D2532 | 16:12 Xi'an Bei – 19:26 Pingyaogucheng | 3h 14m |
D2530 | 19:05 Xi'an Bei – 22:04 Pingyaogucheng | 2h 59m |
Pingyaogucheng (Pingyao Ancient Town Railway Station) – Xi'an Bei (Xi'an North Railway Station)
Train Number | Departure City to Arrival City | Duration |
---|---|---|
D2503 | 08:40 Pingyaogucheng – 11:55 Xi'an Bei | 3h 15m |
D2031 | 10:05 Pingyaogucheng – 13:12 Xi'an Bei | 3h 07m |
D2513 | 14:11 Pingyaogucheng – 17:04 Xi'an Bei | 2h 53m |
D2521 | 16:38 Pingyaogucheng – 19:45 Xi'an Bei | 3h 07m |
D2529 | 20:00 Pingyaogucheng – 22:40 Xi'an Bei | 2h 40m |




98.8% positive customer reviews among 10,000+
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Great tours!
I had an amazing two trips on the Great Wall and the Forbidden City with the guide Ivy during my stay in China. She was very helpful and answered all of our questions with an enthusiastic approach. I have nothing to say but to highly recommend the trips they offer on the Great Wall hiking/camping and also the in-depth Forbidden City tour! Thank you Ivy and China Highlights. more
May 2023,
Serhat Altay
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Amazing First Time to Beijing with China Highlights
Tom, my private tour guide was there when I landed and accompanied me all the way through to sending me off at the airport after check-in at the end of my trip. Zhao the driver, who also did all the driving during my trip, was calm, confident and knowledgeable in taking us around. Both Tom and Zhao were punctual too. The Great Wall of China Hike I wanted to do started in a very remote, unrestored part of the wall. This would not had been possible without Tom problem solving many issues we had on the way up and I could not have done this on my own a a foreigner. It was well worth the effort and probably the highlight of my trip.The remainder of the tour around Tiananmen Square, Forbidden Kingdom and The Temple of Heaven was paired with a detailed commentary by Tom of which I learnt a lot. more
May 2023,
Munsie
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Beijing - city of surprises
A fantastic guide was waiting for us - Jack, who told all the stories with passion and commitment. He also fulfilled those wishes that were not in the plan. I highly recommend visiting Beijing with this guide. more
May 2023,
Joanna i Piotr Kuzebscy
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Liu Yuan was a superb guide and a lot…
Liu Yuan was a superb guide and a lot of fun to spend time with during my first visit to Beijing. It was a wonderful intensive three days. more
May 2023,
Pam S.
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Great weather and a good trip out with Lily!
Many thanks to my guide Lily for customising the trip to make it as efficient and enjoyable as possible. She arranged to start an hour earlier to beat the crowd and I got to enjoy the Great Wall before the crowd streamed in and while the weather was cool. I requested to switch the next attraction to visit from Temple of Heaven to Ming Tomb and she not only accommodated the prompt request, but made all the necessary arrangements even before the trip coordinator managed to reply! Kudos! Our driver was jovial and friendly, always on top of traffic conditions and took detours to beat slow moving traffic. Hassle free day and I wouldn’t have been able to cover the two attractions so easily and comfortably without them! more
May 2023,
Meibao
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This was our first time traveling to Beijing
This was our first time traveling to China, so we really wanted to experience some of the major historical sights of Beijing together with a tour guide. Our itinerary was very carefully planned out according to our interests and tailored to our needs. First, we went camping on the Great Wall and hiked from Jiankou to Mutianyu, and the next day we got an in-depth tour of the Forbidden City as well as a tour of the Temple of Heaven and a taiji experience in the gardens. Our tour guide, Ivy, was truly wonderful in preparing and organizing our personalized itinerary. She is very friendly and knowledgeable, and she was always able and willing to answer all of our questions. Ivy provided us with a truly amazing first visit to China and I would warmly recommend China Highlights for everyone who wishes to travel to China and I would especially recommend Ivy as a tour guide for your trips! more
May 2023,
Annalina Wheeler
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Tom is the BEST tour guide EVER!
Just had the most AMAZING tour with Tom. He was beyond knowledgeable, so generous with his time and made me feel so at ease which was super important as I am travelling by myself. Thank you Tom for the best day-you have totally made my China trip a fabulous experience, one I will never forget! more
May 2023,
SHARRYN HINCHLIFFFE
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Superb service and wonderful time in Beijing
Superb service from Jack who were with us for 4 wonderful days in Beijing. Jack was clearly knowledgeable about the history and able to deliver insight information to us about places. He was also kind and accommodating to my mother who has bad knees. Both China Highlights and Jack were flexible about the itinerary to ensure that we enjoy the best of Beijing. We'll definitely use China Highlights' services again for our next trip to China. more
May 2023,
Chani
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Amazing Trip
First time booking a trip with China Highlights and was fortunate to have Sunny as my private tour guide. We went to the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall, then arrived and walked around Gubei Water Town, and then visited the Simatai portion of the Great Wall at night. Was a very enjoyable trip as we were able to see a night time drone show in the sky, ride a private boat through the canals of the Gubei Water Town, and eat a delicious lunch at a local restaurant along the way. Sunny is super knowledgeable when it comes to the history of the Great Wall and took the time to explain various interesting facts and stories which made the trip very meaningful. The driver we had was also a very nice man who was always on time and eager to help. Was an unforgettable experience and would highly recommend Sunny and China Highlights :) more
May 2023,
Allen C
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Tour to the great wall from the airport
My guide Tom was ver kind and knowlegable, he explained everything to me about the great wall and even went out of his way to help me the next day at Bejings downtown! amazing service!!! thank you so much Tom! more
May 2023,
Fer Villasefior
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Great tour, fantastic guide!
This tour was fantastic! I loved hearing about the history of the Forbidden City and admiring the views at the Great Wall. William was a fantastic tour guide. We were a group of families with several young children, and he was very accommodating and flexible with timing and arrangements. I totally recommend this tour and William as a guide! more
May 2023,
Ryan Corless
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Four excellent sightseeing days in Beijing
We had wonderful four days in Beijing. The entire trip was tailored exactly to our wishes. From experiencing local food, to exploring the major sites of the city up to hiking the great wall of China. Additionally, we had two amazing guides Ina and Fan taking care of all the tickets and coordination required. Also, they could not only tell us everything about the sights we visited and give us an insight to local customs and traditions, but they did so in perfect German. The chauffeur service from Mr Chang was also excellent, getting us from A to B without any hazzle. The past couple of days were one of the most carefree trips we have had so far. more
May 2023,
Katha
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Great tour from William
Great tour organized by China highlights, our tour guide was William - his knowledge was impressive, his English was great and he was always on time. We did the four day tour including the wall and forbidden city - would definitely recommend to anyone looking for an English tour guide. more
Apr 2023,
Lawrence
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Beijing 2 day private tour
The tour itself was great, private driver to and from, my guide Ivy was great English speaking guide. She was very knowledgeable and passionate about her country. Was a great time exploring the Great Wall of china and then my second day did a city tour (forbidden city, hutong tour, summer palace). Felt extremely safe, and was confident having an English guide. Thank you china highlights. (Provide them what you want and they’ll make it happen). Prices are reasonable as I looked at a few places but for private tour, my own schedule, and confidence of getting around safely you can’t go wrong. more
Apr 2023,
Mark
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Very enjoyable
Everything was to the vest standard, the history all very well explained by the Tour Guide in Beijing, Ivy. Really enjoyed it, and appreciated the time. more
Apr 2023,
Jonathan
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Amazing Beijing Experience
I had an amazing time in Beijing and glad Tom was my tour guide. He went above and beyond and I’m truly grateful. Tom did all that he could to ensure my stay in Beijing for two days was pleasant and thanks to him, I say that it was. The driver was also nice and courteous, I called him Jon. The company is blessed to have a good tour guide like Tom on their team so if you are planning to come down to Beijing, make sure you ask for Tom. Thank you Christy and Kimmy for replying all my emails with questions that I had. more
Apr 2023,
Pedro V
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Great experience
We had a great experience with China Highlights and Roger was highly efficient and helpful planning our itinerary exactly how we needed. more
Apr 2023,
Brenda Sarmanho
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Excellent service and tour guide!!
Excellent service and communication from the travel agent Roger Li and amazing tour and experience of Great Wall of China from our tour guide Amber. Highly recommended! more
Apr 2023,
Evangelos Athanasopoulos
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Maggie was such a tremendous help for…
Maggie was such a tremendous help for our recent Beijing trip. Very prompt and helpful in helping us plan and adjust/amend to our requests. more
Apr 2023,
Hi
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HK-Beijing-Wuhan-Guilin-HK
We travelled first to Beijing for a few days before moving on to Wuhan for the wedding and then for a few days in Guilin along with my son and daughter in law. It was a great trip and all went smothly with the help of the guides we had along the way. William in Beijing and Jenny in Guilin were excellent. Chas in HK was also very helpful in getting us to the right place and the right time to fly home. more
Apr 2023,
Alan Harris
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