Get to know Xichang
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- Administrative area
- County-level city · 县级市
- Part of
- Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture
- Chinese name
- 西昌市
- Local areas
- County-level city guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 2,655.00 km²
- Population · 2020
- 955,041
- Administrative seat
- Beicheng Subdistrict
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Lake and pine-covered mountain
Qionghai can be explored by wooden boat, while pine woods cover the slopes visited on Lu Mountain. The lake's wetlands form another part of the city's touring landscape. Dashi Ban Village (大石板村) preserves old wells, trees, inscriptions and buildings; it began in the Ming dynasty (明代) and was rebuilt during the Qing Daoguang reign (清道光).
Trade routes and painted lacquer
Jianchang lay on the Southern Silk Road (南方丝绸之路) and Tea Horse Road (茶马古道), handling salt, tea, silk and leather. Residents still live among its old streets, walls and buildings. Yi lacquerware (彝族漆器) displayed in its shops includes bowls, cups and spoons painted red, yellow and black, with patterns drawn from celestial bodies, plants and animals.
Sources for this guide
四川西昌建昌古城，隐藏着哪些文化宝藏？-新华网 · Xinhua
游邛海、晒太阳、逛古城、吃烧烤西昌邀你共赴一场阳光之旅｜春节趣玩四川2_四川在线 · Sichuan Online
四川·“畅游山水”体验民俗风情之旅 · Ministry of Culture and Tourism
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-26.
Explore Xichang
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Xichang
A broad blue lake with chop on the water seen from the shore, a timber-and-chain viewing platform jutting in at the right with one person standing on it, and a long dark mountain ridge running the full width of the far shore under cumulus cloud.Qionghai Lake and Lushan Mountain邛海与泸山
Qionghai is a lake at Xichang, in the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan, and Lushan is the mountain that rises beside it on the west; the two are registered together as a single 4A-rated scenic area.
Read the place guide →
Jianchang Ancient City · 建昌古城Jianchang Ancient City建昌古城
Jianchang is the Ming walled city in Xichang, in the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan, founded in 1387 and still laid out on its original cross of streets around a central pavilion.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Xichang covers the centre of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture. Search for 西昌市 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Qionghai Lake and Lushan Mountain and Jianchang Ancient City are both listed here. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture →More in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Photo: Qionghai Lake and Lushan Mountain · 杨志强Zhiqiang · CC BY-SA 3.0. Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Photo: Jianchang Ancient City · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.