The Best Place to See Sunrise in Pingyao Ancient City

Plan your Pingyao tour? If you have 2 days to spare after your Beijing tour, you are advised to visit Pingyao Ancient City, immersing yourself in an authentic China walled city which has been well preserved.

A side trip from Beijing to Ping Yao will tear you away from Beijing's modernity and take you closer to a real and typical Chinese architecture and culture, presenting you a vivid picture of China with its past and present.

While you are going to prepare your transport from Beijing to Pingyao and schedule your highlights in the Ancient City of Ping Yao, you may arrange an early morning picture taking of a sunrise over the old town if you are keen on shooting great Sunrise photos.

So check the local sunrise time for next day through online or offline search, then set a morning call for getting up earlier and shooting on time. Next, you will ask where the best site is to watch a sunrise over the ancient town. Needless to say, the higher place, the better to see a sunrise.

But early in the early morning, visitors are not allowed to ascend either the Market Tower in the center of the old city, and nor to climb the towers atop the ancient city of Ping Yao. So where is the best place to watch sunrise in Pingyao?

Last October, I did find a good place to take the pictures of the sunrise over the ancient city of Pingyao. Well, just follow me for a glimpse of a rising sun hanging up above the old town.

I stay at Harmony Hotel, just about 50m north of the southern Entrance Gate at the southern tip of the South Street inside Pingyao City. I discover three points where you could shoot good photos of sunrise.

So you are standing on the short wall, you will have a great photo of the sunrise over the early risers doing morning exercises outside the Southern Gate of Pingyao Ancient City.

Another good place to photograph a good sunrise is below the wall east of the southern gate. At this point, you could shoot a perfect picture of a rising sun over the wall.

The third good place to take a great photo of surise over the ancient city of Ping Yao is inside the South Gate.  The rising sun is appearing over the left shoulder of the multi-floor tower atop the South Gate.

Tip:  Hassle-free Pingyao & Shanxi Guided Tours

If you don’t want to do a self-guided tour and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours,  here are some options for organized tours to Pingyao and Shanxi Province:

Shanxi Tour

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