A chance to travel back in time today

In 1997, Pingyao was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List as the only survivor of its kind throughout the vicissitudes of history, which has brought many tourists from all over the world.

On a Wednesday in early September, Bai Yonghong, the 59-year-old owner of the Harmony Hotel on West Street, received 38 guests from Spain. As one of the most popular hotels among foreign tourists, 80 percent of its guests came from overseas before the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the nights, sheltered by a 500-year-old Chinese scholar tree 13.1 meters tall, people from different countries gather in the three yards that connect, drinking beer and talking. Bai sits among them, ready to serve, while trying to figure out what they are saying. That is how she picked up languages such as English, French and Spanish.

"Foreign visitors like Pingyao for its authentic ancient Chinese charm," she says.

About 10 years ago, Bai purchased the residence with three courtyards once belonging to a family in the Qing Dynasty and transformed them into a hotel. Each courtyard is enclosed by two-story buildings made of mainly bricks and wood, decorated with exquisite "three carvings" that characterized the residences of wealthy families in the old times — wood, stone and brick carvings.

On top of the roofs, a cute miniature house sits in the middle, a decoration that can be seen on many roofs in Pingyao.

"It's a feng shui building (a building for auspicious purposes)," Bai says.