More about hotels in Shanxi
Shanxi is the north China province where the past never got knocked down to make way for anything newer. Pingyao's Ming and Qing dynasty walls still ring a working town of grey-brick courtyards. Carpenters near Datong wedged a temple into a cliff face fifteen centuries ago, and it's still standing. Order noodles almost anywhere in the province and they get shaved straight off a block of dough with a knife, not rolled by hand.
There's a proper spread of places to stay across Shanxi, from a nineteen-room courtyard mansion inside Pingyao's old walls to modern five-star towers in the provincial capital, Taiyuan. Pick your base on which side of the province you want to see first, and build the rest of the trip around the high-speed rail line that links them.
Where to stay in Shanxi
- Pingyao: the walled Ming and Qing town itself. Stay inside the walls for a night or two and you get the old streets to yourself once the day-trip crowds clear out. See stays in Pingyao.
- Datong: your base for the Yungang cliff carvings and the Hanging Temple, and a straightforward high-speed rail trip from Taiyuan. See stays in Datong.
- Taiyuan: the provincial capital, with the widest hotel choice and the easiest airport and rail connections into the rest of Shanxi. See stays in Taiyuan.
- Jinzhong: the farmland and small towns wrapped around Pingyao. Quieter, and a solid backup if the old city's guesthouses are booked out.
- Yuncheng: down in Shanxi's south, salt-lake country with a slower pace than the tourist run further north.
How much is Shanxi accommodation?
Shanxi is one of the more affordable parts of China to book a stay, with a clean budget room from around AU$25 a night and a genuine five-star tower in Taiyuan often under AU$150.
- Budget hotels & guesthouses: From AU$25 per night. Simple, clean rooms near train stations and the old town gates, no frills but well-run.
- Mid-range hotels: From AU$45 per night. Business-standard rooms in Taiyuan and Datong, usually with a proper breakfast spread included.
- Boutique courtyard stays: From AU$120 per night. Pingyao's converted merchant mansions, only a handful of rooms each, built around traditional courtyards.
- Luxury hotels: From AU$130 per night. International five-star brands in Taiyuan, with pools, spas and river views thrown in.
Top-rated hotels in Shanxi
- Jing's Residence, Pingyao: a nineteen-room mansion built around four courtyards for a Qing dynasty silk merchant, tucked inside the old walled town. View Jing's Residence.
- Kempinski Hotel Taiyuan: a riverside five-star in the city's business district, with rooms looking out over the Fenhe River. View Kempinski Hotel Taiyuan.
- Pullman Taiyuan: a modern high-rise with an indoor pool, an easy walk from the city's main train station. View Pullman Taiyuan.
- InterContinental Hotels Taiyuan: 330 rooms on the Fenhe River, right across from the largest shopping mall in north China. View InterContinental Hotels Taiyuan.
- Holiday Inn Datong by IHG: the simplest international-standard base for the day trip out to the grottoes and the cliffside temple. View Holiday Inn Datong.
Tips for finding the perfect accommodation in Shanxi
- Book Pingyao's courtyard mansions well ahead. The best ones run under twenty rooms total, and they fill up fast through spring and autumn.
- Base yourself in Datong for the two big sights outside the cities. The rock-carved gallery 18km west of town runs for half a mile along a sandstone cliff, with more than 50,000 carved figures ranging from palm-sized to 17 metres tall, all cut by hand around the 5th century. The Hanging Temple, about 65km southeast, is a 1,500-year-old timber structure with more than 40 rooms and walkways cantilevered off a sheer rock face, held up by beams slotted straight into the stone. Both are half-day trips from a Datong hotel.
- Use the high-speed train to link the two ends of a Shanxi trip rather than hiring a car. Datong to Taiyuan is a straightforward run of around two hours.
- Aim for spring or autumn. Shanxi's inland climate means a cold, dry winter and a hot summer, and the shoulder seasons also bring softer room rates.
- Book a room with breakfast included if you're in Taiyuan and want to try dao xiao mian, the province's knife-cut noodles, without having to track down a restaurant first thing.
