Sideng square
The square itself — gate towers, stage tower, the Xingjiao temple's exquisite Ming frescoes and the cobbles worn by a thousand years of hooves.
Destinations / Yunnan /
Shaxi & Jianchuan.
The tea-horse road's best-kept town: a cobbled market square that caravans fed for a thousand years, a Friday market that still assembles, and stone grottoes carved a century before Venice's palazzi.
Explore the guide ↓Jianchuan county · 2,100 m · between the lakes
- The square
- Sideng market
- The market
- Fridays
- The grottoes
- Shibaoshan, 9th c.
- The window
- All year
The town the caravans kept.
Between Dali and Lijiang, the tea-horse road ran through the Jianchuan valley, and Shaxi's Sideng quarter was its market square: gate towers at the four corners, a stage facing the temple, cobbled streets and courtyard inns for the muleteers. When the caravans stopped, the town simply kept its shape — and today it is the best-preserved way-station square of the whole trade road, restored with the kind of care that keeps it a village first.
The Friday market is the proof of life: the valley still assembles — livestock on the field edge, herbs and cheese and embroidery in the lanes, and lunch stalls under the stage. Add the Shibaoshan grottoes (9th-century stone carvings in cliff shrines, the Dali kingdom's finest sculpture) and the black pottery workshops of the county town, and Shaxi fills two unhurried nights between the two big destinations.
The valley's anchors.
Five stops between the lakes.
The Friday market
The valley's weekly assembly — the caravans' market, still running. Go early; the day peaks mid-morning and thins after lunch.
Shibaoshan grottoes
Nanzhao and Dali-kingdom carvings in cliff shrines — kings, Buddhas and a carved '阿央白' fertility stone, in forest walks above the valley.
The horse-path walk
Sections of the original tea-horse path survive above the valley — a half-day walk between villages on the muleteers' own stone stairs.
Jianchuan town
The county town's black pottery kilns and timber architecture — the craftsmen's town behind the market village.
Getting it right.
The details that make the town work.
Positioning
Shaxi sits 2 hours' drive west of Dali (or 2.5 from Lijiang) — the classic insertion is between the two, replacing one highway transfer with two village nights.
Market maths
Fridays only — build the stay around it. A Thursday-night arrival gives the Friday market and a quiet Friday-evening square.
Where you sleep
Restored courtyard inns on and around the square — the best of them keep the timber, the cobbles and the quiet.
The grottoes logistics
Shibaoshan is a 20-minute drive — morning light in the shrines is best, and the forest walk up is part of the visit.
Pairing
Shaxi + Cibi lake (Jianchuan's high meadow lake) makes a fine day out of the valley; otherwise keep it simple — the square is the destination.
Plan the caravan nights.
Tell us your dates — if a Friday falls inside them, we will put you on the square.
Start my journey brief ↗