Wild China #2 - Xizhou

Continuing my travels through China.

The town of Xizhou in Yunnan Province lies on the shore of the Er Hai Lake, not far from the city of Bali. Because of it's fine location, until 1949 it was a major commercial centre and for a period was even a major fortress and the site of the temporary palace of the King of Nanzhao. 

The most prominent feature of this town is the housing which is a very typical Bai design known as Sanfang Yizhaobi. Basically this involves building around a central courtyard. In most instances three of the four sides would have all of the windows facing in towards the courtyard and the fourth side would be a blank, white painted wall to reflect light back into the other three buildings.

In the past, all of the buildings surrounding a courtyard might have been occupied by one important family but nowadays they are more likely to be occupied by three or even four families.

The courtyards were put to good use, growing plants and herbs, preparing meals, socialising with neighbours or just hanging laundry out to dry.

 Other houses were built in the Sihe Wutianjing style which involved four buildings around a central large communal courtyard with a smaller private courtyard in each corner.

The photo on the left shows the windowless outer walls and an entrance to one of the smaller courtyards.

Besides serving as an entrance to the main building, these smaller courtyards were also useful for storing a wide range of items.

There are almost 90 of these buildings in Xizhou town and it was a delight to explore them and meet the residents. The Bai ethnic group of people are thought to have lived in this region for thousands of years.

The main street of the town was an odd mixture of traditional buildings outside of which people sold handmade ornaments and jewellery and an assortment of more modern fashion items.

The street led us towards the market place and clearly we were not alone in heading to market. These chickens were taking the lazy way but I am not sure what fate awaited them when they arrived.

The market itself was fascinating and I only wish that the photographs could also convey some of the sounds and smells that we experienced. (not all of them pleasant, but interesting nonetheless).









After browsing around the market, it was time for us to move on. Yet more wonders awaited us in and around the wonderful city of Dali.