If you’ve ever wanted to step back in time to China, you can do exactly that at the Yin Yu Tang House in the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem Massachusetts.
That’s right, this is a real, two story, traditional Chinese wooden home, originally built in the late 1700s, that was fully transplanted to America. You can go right inside.
Entering is an odd experience. The house squats behind high walls within the Peabody Essex Museum, so you can’t see it from a distance. You have to sign up for timed entry, so you end up standing or sitting awkwardly on one side of an atrium, waiting and wondering what you’ll see. Then you’re brought into a courtyard, through a doorway, and you step back in time.
They’ve decorated it as it would have been in the mid 20th century, Mao posters and all. You can walk into every room and imagine what it might have felt like to live, eat, and sleep there. It's truly like stepping back in time.
Fees: Free with admission to Peabody Essex Museum
Conditions: Rainy, 53° Fahrenheit