Xidi 西递

About Xidi

Three streams run through the settlement and converge near Huiyuan Bridge. This water pattern is less immediately theatrical than Hongcun’s ponds, but it helps explain how the village is organised. Look closely at the gables and decorative carving, then trace a short lane-and-stream circuit rather than trying to enter every residence.

Xidi was first built in the 11th century, during the Yuanyou era (元祐) of the Song dynasty. Because a stream ran west through the settlement it was first called Xichuan (西川, West River); it later took the name Xidi from a post station, Pudisuo (铺递所), once west of the village, and became known by the epithet 'a home within the peach-blossom spring' (桃花源里人家).

The village's founding lineage traced descent from a son of Tang Emperor Zhaozong (唐昭宗), who went into hiding among commoners and adopted the surname Hu amid turmoil at the dynasty's end; Xidi grew as a single-lineage Hu settlement. From 1465 the family engaged in trade, funding large-scale building of houses, halls, roads and bridges; by the 18th and 19th centuries the village's prosperity peaked, with about 600 residences standing there.

Xidi was designated an Anhui provincial key cultural relic protection unit in 1986 and raised to a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (全国重点文物保护单位) in 2001. In 2000 UNESCO inscribed the Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui, Xidi and Hongcun, on the World Heritage List, the first time residential dwellings were listed as a World Heritage Site. It was named among the first batch of China's Historic and Cultural Famous Villages (中国历史文化名村) in 2003 and rated a national 5A tourist attraction in 2011.

What to look for

• Carved house entrances and gables in the traditional lane network.
• The village streams and their convergence at Huiyuan Bridge.

Location & getting there

Getting to Xidi

Reach the Xidi scenic visitor entrance in Yi County by road. Huangshan North’s tourist passenger centre has documented connections to Xidi; choose Xidi specifically when booking onward transport, as Hongcun has a separate visitor entrance.