Xizhou Ancient Town

Xizhou Ancient Town (喜洲古镇) sits in Xizhou Town, within Dali City (大理市) of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture (大理白族自治州), and ranks among the most significant historic towns in northern Dali. Known during the Sui and Tang dynasties as "Dali City" (大厘城) and recognized as one of the "ten strongholds" (十睑) of the Nanzhao Kingdom, the town later became famous as the filming location for the classic movie "Five Golden Flowers" (五朵金花). As one of Yunnan Province's most celebrated historic and cultural towns and a key hometown for overseas Chinese communities, Xizhou preserves the largest and finest collection of Bai residential architecture (白族民居建筑群) anywhere in the region.

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Known as the "Bai Residential Architecture Museum" (白族民居博物馆) and recognized as a National Historic and Cultural Town (国家级历史文化名镇), Xizhou Ancient Town (喜洲古镇) offers visitors a living window into a thousand years of Bai culture (白族文化). Beyond its architectural heritage, the town's shifting rice-field scenery through the seasons has become one of its most recognizable features, and in recent years its distinctive cultural atmosphere and calming countryside views have drawn a growing number of international visitors.

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Based on the packages Yunnan Exploration builds around Xizhou, a visit here almost always centers on three linked experiences: exploring the Yan Family Compound (严家大院) and other Bai courtyard mansions, sampling the local Three-Course Tea (三道茶) ceremony, and wandering the morning market on Sifang Street (四方街). Most one-day itineraries treat Xizhou as a half-day stop within a broader Dali route, often paired with the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple (崇圣寺三塔) or an Erhai Lake cruise, giving travelers a compact but well-rounded look at Bai heritage architecture and daily life.

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Its low latitude tempered by its high elevation, Dali has a mild subtropical highland climate with short, mild, dry winters and warm, rainy summers. Frost may occur in winter but the days still generally warm up to 15 °C (59 °F) or more. During summer, a majority of the days features some rainfall and daytime temperatures rise to 24 °C (75 °F). A great majority of the year's rainfall occurs from June to October.

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Dali Xizhou Ancient Town (大理喜洲古镇) lies north of Dali Ancient Town (大理古城) between Cangshan Mountain (苍山) and Erhai Lake (洱海). The historic centre is compact and best explored on foot, while bicycles, e-bikes and local three-wheelers are useful for the fields, nearby villages and lakeside attractions. This guide explains the principal ways to reach Xizhou and travel around its surrounding countryside.

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The festivals of Xizhou Ancient Town (喜洲古镇) bring together Bai beliefs, agricultural traditions and the rural landscapes between Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake. These celebrations are not simply performances created for visitors. They remain an active part of community life, passed from one generation to the next through temple rituals, village processions, music, markets and family gatherings.

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Dali Xizhou Ancient Town (大理喜洲古镇) lies about 18 kilometres north of Dali Ancient Town (大理古城), between Cangshan Mountain (苍山) and Erhai Lake (洱海). It is one of the best-preserved centres of Bai ethnic culture (白族文化) in Dali, known for tiled courtyards, carved gateways, traditional tie-dye workshops and open farmland beneath the mountains. The town also appeared in the Chinese television drama Meet Yourself (去有风的地方), bringing wider attention to its quiet lanes and pastoral scenery.

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Set on the western shore of Erhai Lake (洱海) and framed by Cangshan Mountain (苍山), Xizhou Ancient Town (喜洲古镇) is one of the best-preserved Bai heritage towns in the Dali region. Its old center runs from Sifang Street (四方街) to grand courtyard mansions like the Yan Family Compound (严家大院), where whitewashed walls, carved eaves, and painted screen walls capture the traditional look of Bai architecture.

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Dali Xizhou Ancient Town (大理喜洲古镇) offers a distinctive alternative to conventional city hotels. Accommodation is centred on restored Bai residences (白族民居), intimate courtyards and rural views rather than large international chains. Staying overnight also allows visitors to experience the quiet lanes, early market life and soft morning light across the fields before day-trip crowds arrive.

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Dali Xizhou Ancient Town (大理喜洲古镇) is one of the best places around Dali to experience Bai food culture (白族饮食文化). Traditional snacks are still prepared in the old streets, while restored courtyard restaurants serve seasonal Yunnan dishes beside the fields. Visitors with halal requirements can also find Muslim restaurants in Xizhou Town and nearby Hui communities.

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Culture in Xizhou (喜洲) isn't something you view from behind glass. It lives in the daily rhythms of Bai (白族) family life, in the courtyards where grandmothers still hang indigo cloth to dry, and in the hands of craftspeople who learned their trade before they learned to read. Writer Lao She (老舍) once called this town the "Cambridge of the East," and it's also famous as the fictional hometown of the beloved film Five Golden Flowers. Walk through Xizhou today and you'll find a Bai homeland where a thousand years of everyday life never actually stopped.

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Nestled between Cangshan Mountain (苍山) and the western shore of Erhai Lake (洱海), Xizhou Ancient Town (喜洲古镇) is one of Yunnan's best-preserved centers of Bai ethnic architecture (白族建筑). Its cobbled lanes wind past whitewashed courtyard homes with carved eaves and painted screen walls, most famously the Yan Family Compound (严家大院), while the bustling Sifang Street (四方街) still serves as the town's everyday market square.

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Xizhou Ancient Town Shopping Guide: Local Specialties, Handicrafts and Markets in Dali's Bai Heritage Town

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Xizhou Ancient Town (喜洲古镇) carries a long tradition of scholarship alongside its Bai heritage architecture, and today that same spirit shapes one of Yunnan's most active international study tour (研学旅游) destinations. The old town functions almost like an open-air classroom, where visiting students move between tie-dye workshops, century-old schools, rice-field theaters, and a cross-cultural center founded by an American resident — each stop linking traditional craft with everyday local life. For educators designing an itinerary, Xizhou offers a rare combination: a functioning school system, a concentration of living intangible heritage, and a community that has hosted international student groups for decades.

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Xizhou Ancient Town (喜洲古镇) is the cultural heart of Bai ethnic heritage (白族文化) in Dali, set between the shores of Erhai Lake (洱海) to the east and the slopes of Cangshan Mountain (苍山) to the west. Its administrative structure is organized into thirteen villages, each carrying its own layer of architecture, craft tradition, or lakeside scenery. Understanding how these villages fit together makes it far easier to plan a visit that goes beyond the old town's main square.

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