Blogs from Shaxi , Yunnan, China, Asia

For the next part of our holiday we had prearranged a tour (including driver and guide) to take us around Yunnan. The main reason for doing this was that last time we were in China we found it quite difficult to get around by ourselves. We figured the tour would make it easier to get around and would also allow us to visit some national parks which aren't particularly accessible with public transport, particularly if you don't speak the language. Our guide, William, met us at our hotel in Dali the morning after we finished our food tour. We hopped into the car and set off in the direction of Shaxi which is a small town about 2 hours north of Dali. Along the way we stopped at Shibao Mountain. After purchasing tickets we hopped on ... read more

A really nice old city with lovely theater and temple, load of guesthouses and reasonable price, great to come here in off season, no idea what it'd be like in summer. the surrounding also offer many sites to visit, my favour would be the Guanyin temple not far from Shaxi, it set on the surface of the hill and you can hike up there, and even can go further up to another temple, a good walk!... read more

Visit to the temples and caves of Shibao Shan. entrance to the site 65Yuan. minibus transportation within the site, 40Yuan. shared car returning to Shaxi, 20Yuan. !---! Horse Pen 46 Guesthouse, Shaxi, Yunnan, China, 80Yuan.... read more

After two nights in busy, busy Lijiang, and threatened by the imminent hike in room rates due to the Chinese national day celebrations, I decided to pack up and make the slight detour southwards to the small town of Shaxi. Described by LP as similar to entering a wormhole and going back in time, Shaxi was indeed a stark change from noisy Lijiang. Apparently, it's one of only three ancient cities that still remain from the days when horse caravans of tea merchants used to traverse across the country along the famed Burma Road. It's also the best preserved, and they say that at the cobble-stoned bridge just outside of town that still remains, you can still see the etches from the horses' hooves if you look closely enough. (All I saw was horse manure though). ... read more