Xizhou Ancient Town

喜洲古镇

The first Bai town on the western shore of Erhai, with the Yan Family Compound's “three courtyards and one screen wall,” paddy-field cafés and Xizhou baba, making it Dali's most lived-in ancient town

Xizhou lies on the western shore of Erhai, about 18 km north of the Dali Old Town. It is the birthplace of the Xizhou merchant group, a Bai merchant association. More than 100 Bai residences from the Ming, Qing and Republican periods survive in the town. They are known for their courtyard layouts, called “three courtyards with a screen wall, four enclosed courtyards and five skywells,” and their exquisite gates and painted screen walls.

Highlights include the Yan Family Compound, the residence of Yan Zizhen, the richest man in the Xizhou merchant group, built in the Republican period. Admission is about CNY 60, and you can watch a Bai three-course tea performance there. Also worth seeing are Sifang Street and the Corner Tower, the Yang Pinxiang Residence (now Xilin Yuan, a cultural guesthouse run by the American Linden), the rice fields on the north side of the town (a path through the fields leads to Haishe Park, the best-known photo spot in Xizhou, where autumn rice ears can be photographed with Cang Mountain in the distance), Haishe Ecological Park, a peninsula extending into Erhai that is good for watching the sunset, and Zhoucheng tie-dye, about 5 km north of Xizhou, a centre of Bai tie-dye where you can try the craft. The old town is free to enter.

Suggested route: Sifang Street, the Yan Family Compound, the Corner Tower, the rice field paths (with rice-field cafés), then Haishe Park for the sunset, taking about 3–4 hours. Food to try includes Xizhou baba (flaky baba, sweet and savoury versions, with long queues at the old shops on Sifang Street), raw pork, and cold chicken rice noodles.

Getting there: take a minibus or bus from the North Gate of the old town (about 40 minutes), ride an electric scooter along West Erhai Road for about an hour, or hire a car to combine Zhoucheng and Butterfly Spring.

Note: the rice fields are farmland, so do not step on them. Sifang Street is crowded in peak season, so it is best to visit early in the morning or in the evening. Accommodation in Xizhou offers good value and is a good base on the western shore of Erhai.

Xizhou Ancient Town

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