Xizhou (Bai-minority town)

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

Xizhou, 18 km north of Dali Old Town, is a centre of Bai-minority culture with a 1,000-year-old urban core. The town is famous for its preserved Bai 'three rooms with a screen wall' (sanfang yizhaobi) courtyard houses. The Xizhou pancake (xi zhou ba ba) — savoury or sweet, baked over coals in a brick oven — is the local breakfast staple, sold from carts at the town square in the morning.