One or two stops between Xi'an and Beijing?

I'm arriving day 1 of my trip at 11 o'clock to Xi'an (domestic flight) and have to be day 6 in the morning in Beijing for some already planned sightseeing. I'm usually a fast traveller, so I don't know if doing Xi'an, Pingyao and Datong in this amount of time using night trains is doable, or should I stick only to Xi'an and Pingyao, and using the day of Datong to do a daytrip from these citites. Any insight would be very appreciated.

Xi'an - Pingyao - Beijnig works really well with night trains, because each town is far enough apart that you get a good nights sleep when taking the slower trains.

Pingyao-Datong-Beijnig doesnt work that way. You are either left groggy or sitting on a train all day. Particularly Datong to Beijing is almost always 6 hours long. You CAN always get a hotel 1 extra night, and sleep 4 hours on the train and 4 hours in the hotel and not be too groggy.

Assuming you arrive in Xi'an on time and not jetlagged, you could see a little of something in the city on day 1.
Day 2 you could see the terracotta warriors and a bit more of Xi'an then taking the night train to Pingyao
Day 3 you see Pingyao.

Day 4 more Pingyao. Take an later afternoon/early night train to Datong
Day 5 you arrive and get a hotel for a few hours, see Datong you take the night train to Beijing

That is a lot of Pingyao, you could maybe do a day trip to the Wangcourtyard or something else. You could even take a bus/train to Taiyuan and see the Provincial Museum before heading to Datong(more trains leave from Taiyuan than Pingyao)

That would be fast, but not unbearable. It really depends on how much you want to see Datong, vs if you would like more time in Xi'an

There's plenty to do and see in Xian, the warriors, the terrific museums, the big and little wild goose pagodas, the muslim area and night market and walking or cycling on the wall being the main ones. In Pingyao you can explore all the old buildings, wander around the non tourist part of town, walk the wall and there are a couple of good day tours. So there's no need to add another place. datong is not a particularly nice town and the old part has been pretty much rebuilt. The site to see there is Yuyang caves, about an hour by bus from the centre. You will need a day to get out to the Hanging monastery and possible the wooden pagoda. And yes the trains are somewhat awkward for a rushed trip. Instead of Datong you could get a high speed train to Luoyang to see the caves there. You will also want at least 4 or 5 days for Beijing.

There are now several High Speed Trains between Pingyao and Beijing West. G and D class fastest time is under 4 hours. So based on previous experience get to Pingyao before its completely ruined. Maybe I am just getting old but I am constantly amazed by the pace of change /destruction in China.

Based on my 2015 trip I think Pingyao is an excellent base ,choose a courtyard hotel away from the main streets(plenty of nice family ones ,sleep on a Kang) prices around ¥100 and hire a bike some great countryside within easy reach. I met other travellers who had done a Hanging Monestary tour from Pingyao but very touristy. Agree with violets about Datong and I found the caves far less impressive thanLuoyang etc.

One reason why Pingyao is so well preserved is the City Government provided grants to restore older properties.Sadly a change of policy meant this was discontinued ... And what was a grant gas now turned into a loan!

Thanks for all your suggestions. In the end, after looking the schedule of the available trains, I have decided to only going to Pingyao and do a sidetrip to luoyang caves. But now I have another dilema, should I go 2 days to Pingyao o instead cut 1 and do another sidetrip from Xi'an to Hua Shan (considering that I'd go a midweek day in August, will be very crowded?).

Thanks for all your suggestions. In the end, after looking the schedule of the available trains, I have decided to only going to Pingyao and do a sidetrip to luoyang caves. But now I have another dilema, should I go 2 days to Pingyao o instead cut 1 and do another sidetrip from Xi'an to Hua Shan (considering that I'd go a midweek day in August, will be very crowded?).

Depends on you. Huashan doesnt do much for me. It's always crowded, august will be more so, and it will be hot.
Pingyao is rather small you can do it in a day. There use to be a pretty cool town outside the walls, but I doubt any of it still exists.

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