Pioneering New Paths in China: Xizhou and Shuanglang - Emerging Adventurers

      07/19/2025 - 07/19/2025

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      Just as Lijiang is near several restored villages that maintain the culture of the Naxi minority, Erhai Lake features several towns along its shores that attract tourists wanting to experience the traditions of the Bai minority. I chose only a few locations carefully since I wanted to avoid the mistake we made in Lijiang of spending too much time in towns that were mostly alike. Mei Ling had arranged for our taxi driver from the day before to serve as our personal driver for a trip to the northern end of the lake. Early on Saturday morning, we set out for Xizhou to arrive at the market before nine, just in time for breakfast. By the time we got there, it was raining quite heavily, but we weren't going to let that deter us. Luckily, most of the market was covered, although we had to navigate areas where water was leaking through roof gaps. We stopped at a few stalls where vendors were preparing noodle soups with vivid yellow mung bean paste, vegetables, and spices. We settled down at a small grilled duck restaurant in the butcher's section, which meant we had to add half a duck to our order. Mei Ling explored the butcher stalls a bit more and returned with a bowl of raw pork meat and skin. I had no idea that raw pork was ever considered consumable, even in China. I sampled a piece, which wasn't too bad, but I couldn't shake my reservations enough to help her finish the bowl. We moved on through the market, which was fairly large and became much busier after the rain ceased. The most intriguing area for us was a live poultry market where some workers were actively slaughtering and defeathering chickens. One worker would hold a chicken and bend its head back to cut its throat before dropping it into a bucket to bleed out. Another person would toss the still-struggling bird into a pot of boiling water and stir it around for a few minutes, subsequently transferring it to a machine that removed its feathers through an unseen mechanism. It was a gruesome sight that made the kids a bit uneasy, but I believe it’s beneficial for them to see exactly what happens before the meat ends up on their plates.

      Xizhou was established around the tenth century when Erhai Lake was part of the Dali Kingdom, governed by the Bai indigenous elite. The town prospered due to its location along trade routes between Tibet and central China, and this prosperity persisted even after the Mongol Empire conquered the Dali Kingdom in the thirteenth century, integrating the region into China. Bai merchants maintained de facto control of Xizhou and the lake shore, even with many Han settlers moving into the area from the east. Xizhou entered a decline after the Communist Revolution, but along with several other locations in Yunnan, has seen extensive restoration since the 1990s. The main street of the old town is Sìfang Jie, lined with a mix of crumbling and renovated buildings, many of which house clothing boutiques and souvenir shops. We stopped at a modern coffee shop for warm drinks to warm us against the sporadic drizzle.

      Eventually, Sifang Jie opened into a spacious plaza featuring a stone gate known as Tieming Fang. On one side of the plaza was a decorative entrance to a preserved Bai mansion called the Yan Family Courtyard. It was quite pricey to enter, and seeing large tour groups going inside, we decided to skip it. Mei Ling coordinated a meeting point with our driver on the main road surrounding the old town. By the time we arrived at the spot, he had not yet shown up, which turned out to be fortunate because there was a beautiful lily-covered pond with an arched stone bridge in the middle. Raindrops were forming ever-changing patterns of concentric circles on the calm water's surface. Reconstructed Bai-style buildings bordered the side of the pond next to the old town. In a courtyard adjacent to the pond, a group of workers was wrapping a huge bundle of bamboo around a long, partially burned log. I assumed this was a preparation for the torch festival, which was a good sign since I hadn’t been completely sure we were in Dali during the right weekend for the festivities.

      Our driver took us around the northern end of Erhai Lake to reach the village of Shuanglang. Along the way, we passed fields with unfamiliar crops and endless rolling hills shrouded in low clouds. Before reaching the ancient town popular with tourists, our driver took us to a local market where elderly women were dressed in traditional Bai attire. It was uncertain whether this was their normal everyday clothing or if they were part of the tourist trade. The market showcased specialties like overflowing baskets of dried fruits and piles of severed pig legs.

      Shuanglang is believed to have gotten its name, meaning "two galleries",

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