[2025 Jianchuan Attraction] Travel Guide for Shaxixingjiao Temple (Updated Mar)

✈️Visit a windy place, Jianchuan Shaxi Ancient Town, Yunnan. This quiet and simple mountain town is the only surviving ancient market on the Tea Horse Road. 🏡Here you can see old houses that retain the Bai ethnic characteristics and local architectural style everywhere, ancient temples, ancient opera stages, ancient stone slabs, ancient alleys, ancient village gates... These ancient buildings' eaves, window lintels, corners, and corridors all have a strong traditional Bai aesthetic style, like a living history museum. 🚶‍♂️Walking on Sifang Street, the main street of the ancient town, an ancient opera stage with a history of more than 600 years expresses the romance of Shaxi people with its flamboyant eaves and colorful caissons, which is the most eye-catching. 🏯Opposite the ancient opera stage is Xingjiao Temple. Its facade is not large, simple and low-key, complementing the colorful caissons of the ancient opera stage. It is a representative of the ancient town's ancient architecture and a national key cultural relic protection unit. 🙋Main highlights: 1️⃣Xingjiao Temple was built during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, with a history of more than 600 years. Its architectural layout is one entrance and three courtyards, consisting of the main hall, the second hall, the Guanyin Building, the temple gate, and the opera stage. The entire building complex is built on a central axis. 2️⃣The architecture of Xingjiao Temple is simple and elegant, solemn and grand. The ancient trees in the courtyard are towering and the environment is quiet and pleasant. Cherry blossoms are in full bloom this season. 3️⃣The main hall of Xingjiao Temple has a double-eaved, hip-and-gable roof with nine ridges. There are no ground-level pillars in the hall, and there are 12 pillars on the inner walls, with a beam-lifting structure. 4️⃣There are corridors around the main hall, and there are more than 20 Ming Dynasty murals on the walls, which are deeply influenced by the Central Plains painting style and have strong local ethnic characteristics. They are treasures of ancient Bai painting art. 5️⃣The main hall and the second hall of Xingjiao Temple are both relics of the Ming Dynasty. They are relatively early wooden structures in Yunnan, and most of them are original. The beams and pillars are stable and magnificent, the Dougong brackets are grand and magnificent, and the structure is exquisite and unique. 🎫Tickets: Free admission. Shaxi Ancient Town is not large, and a quick tour takes 2 hours, but the ancient town is really healing, so it is recommended to arrange half a day to a full day. 📍Address: 084 County Road, Jianchuan County, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture. It is a 2-hour drive from Dali Ancient City, and there is a dedicated parking lot at the scenic spot's visitor center. ‼️Recommended one-day tour route: Sideng Street → Youfeng Restaurant → Xingjiao Temple Ancient Opera Stage Area → Xingjiao Temple → South Gate → Yujin Bridge.

Shaxi Ancient Town, a pearl on the Ancient Tea Horse Road, was once a key hub for trade. The ancient road has witnessed countless caravans carrying goods, with the crisp sound of horse bells weaving a symphony of prosperity. The ancient town's Sideng Street is full of history. Every stone on the cobblestone road of Sifang Street bears the weight of history, having witnessed the bustling scenes of caravans resting. Xingjiao Temple stands quietly like an old man. Built in the Ming dynasty, this ancient temple is a treasure of Bai Buddhist architecture. The murals inside the temple are exquisite, and despite the erosion of time, they still vividly tell the Buddhist stories and Bai customs of the past. The ancient theater stage, though the hustle and bustle of the past has faded, seems to still echo with the sound of music and applause in the winter sunset. It is a stage for Bai traditional opera culture, carrying the emotions and memories of the local people.

⛰【Travel Guide】 📍Detailed address: Shaxi Town, Jianchuan County, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province 🚗Transportation Guide: Self-driving is the first choice, as car rental is very convenient. The next best option is to hire a car. Public transportation is not easy to access. Take a bus from Lijiang or Dali bus station to Jianchuan bus station (1.5-2h), then take a rural green minibus to Shaxi Ancient Town (40min-1h) 🌟Highlights: 1. Ancient Opera Stage The most characteristic landmark of Shaxi, built for the entertainment of gods through opera, with a three-story hip-and-gable roof and a three-sided viewing pavilion that is very elegant. It is also a landmark of Shaxi. 2. Xingjiao Temple A rare Bai ethnic minority Vajrayana Buddhist temple in China, with the main hall and secondary hall being Ming Dynasty relics. The 16 frescoes on the outer wall of the main hall are very precious. 3. Ouyang Courtyard A century-old residence built by a caravan leader surnamed Ouyang during the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, very well preserved. 4. Dongzhaimen Today, the gates leading north and south from Sifang Street are all reconstructed works, only Dongzhaimen is the original historical piece. 5. Yujin Bridge A semi-circular stone arch bridge, an excellent spot for photography. In the old days, caravans would cross the Huacang Mountain from Niu Street, and crossing this bridge meant entering Shaxi. 6. Pioneer Shaxi Bai Ethnic Bookstore Located 2 kilometers northeast of the ancient town in Beilong Village, it is the fifth rural bookstore of Nanjing Pioneer Bookstore, transformed from a commune granary. 7. Sideng Street The most central street, with interesting shops concentrated here. 8. Grandma Arai's Shop Next to the ancient opera stage, there is a workshop run by a local grandmother, where all the handicrafts are handmade by her. 9. Jian Lake A wetland with good natural scenery, revered by locals. 10. Mid-Mountain Coffee Take a sightseeing yellow cart from 【Yujin Bridge】 to reach this place, located on a hillside. Before the wheat harvest, you can see vast golden fields~ 📌Little Tips: Don't miss the Shaxi market gathering time: every Friday morning from 8:00-12:00. The market is not just a small commodity market~ You can see local specialty products & handicrafts, and fully experience the authentic cultural scenery. Market recommendations to buy: wild mushrooms, fresh sheep milk, milk cakes, local homemade cured meat, bamboo crafts, etc. 🌟When tired, just sit in front of a stall, buy a bowl of sweet rice wine or mixed pea powder with sour papaya juice, cheap and delicious Universe Bread: Alkaline water European bread is delicious Crow Coffee: Shaxi coffee shop ceiling, signature hand-brewed Longfeng Ruiying Halal Restaurant: Beef and beef offal hot pot is very tasty and affordable Pioneer Book House: Former granary, today's bookstore, referring to this bookstore located on the ancient Tea Horse Road. Inside, in addition to books, there is also a café and a poetry tower. Love and Old Food: Not big but extra cozy, ingredients are bought fresh from the morning market, sold out means no more. Chew Chew Small Restaurant: It is said that Liu Yifei has visited, a shop loved by fairies, must be stunning enough. Pick a good weather, order a tiramisu & latte, even the wind is sweet~

After this somewhat disappointing visit to Shaxi, I still think the national treasure Xingjiao Temple, located in the center of the ancient town, is well worth it. After all, it is especially difficult to preserve wooden ancient buildings in the humid and rainy climate of the South. Xingjiao Temple was founded in the 13th year of Yongle of the Ming Dynasty and has a history of over 600 years. Moreover, it is the only remaining Ming Dynasty Bai ethnic 'Awangli' Buddhist temple today. When I went there, it was already close to dusk, not many people, but it was also not far from closing time, so the whole visit was a bit rushed. The existing layout of Shaxi Xingjiao Temple consists of one entrance and three courtyards, composed of ancient opera stages, mountain gates, Guanyin buildings, the second hall, and the main hall. The ancient opera stage can be regarded as one of the symbols of Shaxi Ancient Town. As the most characteristic wooden structure on Sifang Street, it is a three-eaved pavilion building. At the top of the opera stage, you can see exquisite reliefs and colorful Bagua patterns. Although it has been repaired later, it still retains the original architectural style. When I went there, there were quite a few art students sketching under the stage, and the unique shape was also shining in the children's drawings. Opposite the ancient opera stage is the mountain gate, with the fierce-looking Hengha Erjiang statues standing on both sides, quite majestic. It feels like they are not the original works, but their elegant postures have a kind of charm that seems to leap out. The main hall and the second hall of Xingjiao Temple are one of the few important Ming Dynasty buildings in western Yunnan. The former is a Xieshan-style five-back top, and the latter is a double-eaved Xieshan-style nine-back top, with dougong brackets and flying corners on both the upper and lower eaves. However, the important reason why Xingjiao Temple was selected as a national treasure is not only the Ming Dynasty wooden structure, but the 16 murals hidden under the wooden eaves outside the hall. This group of murals was painted in the 15th year of Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, said to be by the hands of Bai ethnic painters from Jianchuan, such as Zhang Bao. The subjects are extensive, the characters are numerous, the shapes are vivid, the images are realistic, the lines are smooth, the colors are brilliant, and they integrate Buddhist stories with secular life, full of mythological atmosphere and ethnic style. However, to be honest, if I hadn't done my homework beforehand, it would be very easy to miss these murals because they are indeed quite severely damaged. Some of them, if not looked at carefully, are completely unclear. Fortunately, there is a side hall next to it with a special display for these murals. Through their vivid and exquisite lines, one can glimpse the characteristics of early Tantric paintings in Yunnan, and even see some of the graceful legacy of Tang and Song dynasty paintings. Among these 16 murals, the 'Namo Jiangmo Shijia Rulai Hui' deserves special attention. It is said to be a rare mural of the female Sakyamuni in China, and this female Sakyamuni can only be seen here. 🏠Name | Shaxi Xingjiao Temple 🎫Ticket | Free ⛳Address | Sideng Street, Shaxi Ancient Town, Jianchuan County, Dali Prefecture 🚗Transportation | Navigate to 'Shaxi Xingjiao Temple'