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Xizhou Township
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Thirty-three km. from Xiaguan lies the town
of Xizhou by the side of Erhaj Lake and the Wanhua Brook.
Historically, it was a military fortress of Nanzhao Kingdom
and a temporary palace of the King of Nanzhao. Because of
its favourable geographical situation, the town used to
be a commercial centre before 1949 and there were more than
140 national capitalist families among whom the Yan's, the
Dong's, the Yin's and the Yang's were the biggest ones in
capital. Their houses are of the typical Bai design known
as "Sanfang Yizhaobi" (a courtyard rooms on three
sides and a screen wall on the remaining side) and "Sihe
Wutianjing" (dne big courtyard with four smaller ones
at the four corners of the main one). Xizhou Town is composed
of more than 88 compounds of this kind. Some have several
yards and some have yards within yards. In short, the houses
here show the strong and unique Bai national characteristics
in their painted roofs and pillars, upturned eaves, and
"dougong" systems (double bow-shaped brackets
on columns supporting upturned eaves).
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In recent years, streets and roads
have been widened, new markets have been established and
a scene of prosperity prevails throughout the area. In 1988,
one of the compounds of the Yang's was made to open to foreign
visitors with the name of "Xizhou Tianzhuang"
(Countryside Villa at Xizhou) by the Tourist Bureau of Dali
Prefecture.
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