What an adorable town to visit. This ancient town is near Hongcun, which is the larger and more popular version of Xidi. They’re very close by bus, and even closer to hike, referred to as the Xidi-Hongcun Hiking Trail.
Because I felt I’d done enough hiking for one weekend in the Yellow Mountains, I only visited Xidi to get a feel for the architecture of Anhui pronvince, but I wish I’d allowed for more time to also visit Hongcun as well.
Here I had some of the most delicious and most aesthetically served food, like sticky date rice in a tiny woven basket, and some sort of green pancake with a sweet center.
To get through Xidi could take you anywhere from an hour to three, depending if you’d like to explore all the tiny side streets like I did. Each little alleyway it will seem like you’re walking into somebody’s backyard, and if you turn a few too many times you just might be! Everyone here was very friendly, though and was interested in me as a foreigner without being too pushy or overbearing, like I’ve experienced in other small towns.
From other sight seeing towns like Tunxi, Tangkou, or Hongcun (if you don’t want to hike) go to the bus station and get a bus to Xidi. Make sure you get off at the right stop or else you’ll end up in Hongcun. To get back to whatever city you’d like to go to, visit the tourist center near the entrance and they can sell you a bus ticket back and they’ll tell you when it gets here!
