Xizhou Old Town
A well-preserved Bai town of painted screen walls, courtyard houses, and surrounding farm fields.
Xizhou sits north of Dali Old Town on the western shore of Erhai, with a core area of about 1.5 km². Founded in the Han dynasty and built up under the Nanzhao kingdom, it was a major western-Yunnan town and a Tea Horse Road trading post. Its Bai residential architecture is the best preserved anywhere: over 150 courtyard houses from the Ming, Qing and Republican eras, many with their original interiors. Rapeseed flowers in April, ripening rice in September, and a small tourist train through the fields.
- Best season
- April (rapeseed) and September (ripening rice) are the two clear windows; the fields photograph best when the rice turns gold.
- Tickets (approx.)
- No ticket for the town itself; individual courtyard houses charge separately. A local minibus from Dali Old Town's Cangshan Gate costs about ¥8.
- Time to allow
- Half a day is enough, and it combines naturally with an east-shore lake day.
- Altitude
- 1990 m
Know before you go
It is out of the way and very quiet after dark, so it is a poor choice to stay overnight. The pedicabs near the entrance are known for improvised per-kilometre pricing — order a car through an app instead.
- Destination
- Dali
- On these routes