Xizhou (she-joe) Village is a wonderful place to visit, filled with warm friendly people, great art and architecture and an amazing link to the WWII United States military's Flying Tigers. This small village has a lot to offer tourists, scholars, international students, and those interested in sustainable heritage tourism. There are various guesthouses and hotels in the vicinity as well as the Linden Center, which offers accommodations, welcomes day visitors, and can provide a wealth of information on the local area, art and artifacts, architecture, customs, and history of this region of China.
There are six waymarks associated with this tour and they can be visited as a day tour or the GPX files can be downloaded individually to add something unique to see or experience on each day you spend in Xizhou Village. Touring in a foreign country can pose problems if you do not speak the language and for that reason I have included a map and a google earth view of this tour.
This tour provides opportunities to engage with the local community, shop, eat, visit temples and memorials, and learn about the Bai people and their rich heritage. This is an easy, self paced walking tour but bicycles can also be rented and used to explore the entire village and nearby Erhai Lake. There are no strenuous hikes or steep inclines, the village is family friendly, and visitors of all ages will find most every place easily assessable.
This tour could not have been made without the help and knowledge of my guide and assistant, JR Woodwell, China Studies Program 2014, Sidwell Friends School. I am very grateful for all the help this young man and his classmates provided and I am especially appreciative of the knowledge they shared with me while I was visiting Xizhou.
1) This tour starts at one of the main entrance gates to Xizhou village (
visit link) Adjacent to this entrance is Xiandu Si temple. Guests may tour the temple and it is customary to give a small donation. The donations are used to maintain the temple buildings and to provide aid to the community. A visit to the temple is a lovely way to start this tour. The architecture is amazing and the temple grounds are lovely. Exit the temple where you entered, cross the square and walk along the east side of the pond until you come to the end of the pond area and you will reach the correct roadway to go to the next stop. Turn left and you are on your way!
2) The second waymark for this tour is the Morning Market (
visit link) go behind the street front building on the right and you will find the open air market. The market is a lively place and a great representation of fresh markets that you will find across rural regions of China. If you exit the market to the east, pass by a few houses, and turn left at the roadway it will be a straight walk to the next stop on this tour.
3) The third stop on the tour is the Flying Tigers Memorial Stone (
visit link) The easiest way to get to the memorial is by exiting the market to the east, turn left, and follow the roadway. The memorial is on the corner of a small intersection on your right. The English translation is on the back side of the stone. Continue going straight up the roadway and you will come to a more modern street, turn left, and continue on to the next intersection and turn left again to go to the next stop on this tour.
4) The fourth stop is the Main Square (
visit link) The square is surrounded by shops and food vendors. This a great place to enjoy a snack and admire the architecture of Xizhou village.
5) The fifth stop is a short walk from the square. Pass through the large wooden gate and follow the roadway around the curve to the right. On your right hand side you will come to an open courtyard that has a small exercise station, an asymmetric building, and the gateway to the second temple (see the collage photo in the gallery) on this tour. Jiutan Shen (9 Gods Temple) (
visit link) can be visited, and again a donation is customary, but photographs are usually forbidden at this temple. A history of this temple is provided on the linked page as well as in the photo gallery of this tour.
6) As you cross back through the outer courtyard and come to the roadway turn right and follow the road past the farm fields. The final stop on the tour is the Linden Center (
visit link) The Linden Center's first courtyard is open to the public and more information about this cultural center that provides accommodations can be found on the link provided below. The cheerful orange walls make the Linden Center difficult to miss, turn in and follow the short walkway, and you will enter into the first courtyard. You can also learn more about the Linden Center on their website at (
visit link) The Linden Center provides tours of their unique establishment and can help arrange a bicycle rental so that you can further enjoy the village or take a quick 20 minute trip to the Tongue of the Lake Park and visit Erhai Lake.
I had the pleasure of spending 4 days in Xizhou and I wish the stay had been longer. The staff at the Linden Center are wonderful and most are bilingual so they can provide a great deal of information and assistance to visitors. The Linden Center offers a number of tours and activities (
visit link) that allow visitors to have a true cultural experience and will transform how you think about tourism and elevate what you expect in your visits abroad.
Just to be clear: I am not an employee of Linden Center, I am not being paid by Linden Center, and I am not advertising on behalf of Linden Center. Simply put, I had one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life while staying at the Linden Center and appreciate the time, care, and dedication they show not only to their guests but to the community in which they live and run this unique cultural visitor center.