Shaxi Ancient Town

A rare surviving market square on the Tea Horse Road, Sideng Street pairs a Ming esoteric Buddhist temple of the Bai people with an old Kuixing opera stage.

Hooves of caravan horses wore deep grooves into this Qing stone bridge, the vital crossing of the Heihui River into and out of Shaxi.

A leading caravan chief of Shaxi built this compound, a top example of Bai homes with three wings and a screen wall, and four courtyards with five patios.

Carved under the Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms in the Tang and Song eras, these grottoes hold Azhali Buddhist royal figures and esoteric stone art.

From the Tang–Song period, Shaxi developed as an important caravan market and exchange node through the tea-horse route and nearby salt wells.

Xingjiao Temple at Shaxi, Jianchuan, was founded in 1415; its surviving halls and murals painted in 1417 preserve Ming-era Bai religious art.