Xizhou (Bai-minority town)

Bai-minority town on Erhai's western shore. Traditional Bai courtyard architecture and the famous Xizhou breakfast pancakes.

Xizhou is a Bai-minority town 18 kilometres north of Dali Old Town on the western shore of Erhai Lake. The settlement has a documented history of over a thousand years, and its historic urban core is one of the best-preserved examples of traditional Bai architectural planning in Yunnan. Unlike Dali Old Town, which has been heavily commercialised for tourism, Xizhou functions as a working market town with a resident population, making it a more authentic baseline for understanding Bai culture.

The defining feature of Bai domestic architecture here is the sanfang yizhaobi — 'three rooms with one screen wall' — courtyard house typology. The compound is arranged on three sides, with one open side facing a plastered screen wall decorated with painted landscapes, calligraphy, and floral patterns. The white plaster, blue-grey roof tiles, and painted decorative elements give Bai architecture its characteristic colour palette. Several larger merchant compounds from the Ming and Qing eras are accessible to visitors for a small entry fee; the Yan Family Compound is the most often cited. Walking the older lanes on the east and south sides of the main square reveals rows of largely intact courtyard-house facades.

Xizhou Ba Ba — the local breakfast pancake, baked on a concave iron griddle over coal — is the town's most discussed food. The pancakes are made from wheat dough, available in savoury (with pork, scallion, and Yunnan chilli) or sweet (brown sugar and sesame) versions, and are sold from breakfast carts at the town square from early morning until sold out. The Linden Centre, a restored Bai compound that operates as a boutique hotel and cultural centre, has contributed to Xizhou's profile among cultural tourism visitors. The town makes a natural half-day from Dali by bicycle along the lakeside path.