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Posted On Tuesday, September 3, 2013 at
at
2:24 AM
by Alvin
An ambitious bus journey to reach the famous Yellow River Hu Kou Waterfall (黃河壺口瀑布) from Shannxi (陕西) Province to Shanxi (山西) Province paid off as we arrived near 7P.M., having flown in to Xian (西安) from Shenzhen (深圳) in the early morning - the only brief detour was an electric tri-cycle journey across the busy Xian city traffic. We could hear the faint rumbles of the mighty waterfall at a distance where we stayed about 3km away. After a brisk walk in the morning towards the waterfall, Hu Kou did not disappoint and well worth our effort in getting here. The Yellow River took its time in getting here from the plateaus in Qing Hai (青海) Province and with the rock formation shaping up like a massive water jug, the muddy river, with its precious life-giving minerals just plunged down a gaping gap of about 20 meters in width. The effect was spectacular but be warned, getting too close would have your clothes ended up with muddy brown patches ! Also, from our experience, the Shanxi side was the side to be, to view the waterfall at its full glory !
Having experienced a natural "high" from the little adventure (and from the negative ions) at the waterfall, we hopped on a shared mini-bus and made our way towards Ping Yao (平遙) via a series of towns in Shanxi - 吉縣 and then 臨汾. The UNESCO lauded walled-city of Ping Yao was first populated about 2,700 years ago and developed into its present form over numerous generations. It was once a major financial centre in the Qing Dynasty (清朝) - think Wall Street, Western Union and SFC, then you would get the idea. We strolled the pleasant alleys as well as the main thoroghfares amongst the throngs of petite residence-cum-hotels (客棧) and well-stocked shops. The town was well-maintained insofar as tourist souvenirs shops were concerned - they mainly sold what they had been selling long ago - barber shops, noodles joints, Chinese stationery outlets, toy shops; not a Starbucks to be found anywhere, thank goodness ! Overall, Ping Yao did maintain the atmosphere that you were transported back in time to an ancient county town - you could easily imagine that you rode into town on your horseback !
An ambitious bus journey to reach the famous Yellow River Hu Kou Waterfall (黃河壺口瀑布) from Shannxi (陕西) Province to Shanxi (山西) Province paid off as we arrived near 7P.M., having flown in to Xian (西安) from Shenzhen (深圳) in the early morning - the only brief detour was an electric tri-cycle journey across the busy Xian city traffic. We could hear the faint rumbles of the mighty waterfall at a distance where we stayed about 3km away. After a brisk walk in the morning towards the waterfall, Hu Kou did not disappoint and well worth our effort in getting here. The Yellow River took its time in getting here from the plateaus in Qing Hai (青海) Province and with the rock formation shaping up like a massive water jug, the muddy river, with its precious life-giving minerals just plunged down a gaping gap of about 20 meters in width. The effect was spectacular but be warned, getting too close would have your clothes ended up with muddy brown patches ! Also, from our experience, the Shanxi side was the side to be, to view the waterfall at its full glory !
Having experienced a natural "high" from the little adventure (and from the negative ions) at the waterfall, we hopped on a shared mini-bus and made our way towards Ping Yao (平遙) via a series of towns in Shanxi - 吉縣 and then 臨汾. The UNESCO lauded walled-city of Ping Yao was first populated about 2,700 years ago and developed into its present form over numerous generations. It was once a major financial centre in the Qing Dynasty (清朝) - think Wall Street, Western Union and SFC, then you would get the idea. We strolled the pleasant alleys as well as the main thoroghfares amongst the throngs of petite residence-cum-hotels (客棧) and well-stocked shops. The town was well-maintained insofar as tourist souvenirs shops were concerned - they mainly sold what they had been selling long ago - barber shops, noodles joints, Chinese stationery outlets, toy shops; not a Starbucks to be found anywhere, thank goodness ! Overall, Ping Yao did maintain the atmosphere that you were transported back in time to an ancient county town - you could easily imagine that you rode into town on your horseback !
