China Self-guided Tour

 
Luliang city is located at western part of Shanxi province. It is suitable for visiting all the year around. On the first day, take shuttle bus to Lishi for the visit of Anguo Temple. Lishi is 190 kilometers away from Taiyuan. The regular buses to Lishi are available at Taiyuan Western bus station every half an hour before 16:00. The duration is about 4 hours and the price is about CNY50.00 net per person.

 
Visit the Anguo Temple upon your arrival. Anguo Temple is 10 kilometers west of Lishi city. It was originally named Anji Temple, and was built in Tang Dynasty. The temple was built against the hill. It has two floors and four courtyards. The main buildings you can see now are Buddhist Halls, copper towers, Yu Chenglong's reading house and Avalokitesvara tower and so on. There are also colored sculptures of Avalokitesvara, murals and steles can be seen here.

 
After the visit of the temple, take minibus to Qikou. It takes about 1 hour and the price is about CNY15.00 net per person. The buses are available every half an hour from 15:30 to 17:30. If you would like to charter a car to Qikou, the price is about CNY150.00 net for at most 4 people in one car.

 
Stay overnight at Qikou. The hotel condition at Qikou is very limited. There is no luxury hotel available, only some hostels can be found. Among them, Huanghe Hotel (0358-4466008) is the one with largest scale, and the price is about CNY128.00 net per room per night. Besides that, you can also stay at Changxing hostel (0358-4466092) with the price of CNY40.00 net per person, or other local family hostels.

 
On the second day, visit Qikou old town. Qikou is located 48 kilometers south of Linxian County, just beside Yellow River. It acquires fame because of the second biggest moraine of Yellow River - Datong moraine. Qikou is a famous historical and culture town in China, it was emerged from the Qing Dynasty, and then in the hereafter 200 years, it became the famous business strategic place in northern part of China.

 
The streets and shops of Qikou old town are typical traditional constructions of remote area of Qing Dynasty. There are many well preserved buildings of this kind can be seen, such as warehouses, pawnshops, temples, folk houses and piers and so on. The stone paved street is only about 200 meters, while it has many curves and rugged along with the topography.

 
Xiwan old village is 1000 meters away from Qikou town, you can just walk there and enjoy the scenery along the way. The village is formed by a group of buildings in castle construction belongs to Ming and Qing Dynasty. The whole construction is designed unusually, and the layout is reasonable and rigorous.

 
Transfer back to Taiyuan. There are two buses to Taiyuan from Qikou everyday, one depart at 05:30 in the morning, the price is about CNY70.00 net per person and it takes about 5 hours on the way.