Xidi Ancient Village
Xidi Ancient Village
4.5
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
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4.5
191 reviews
Excellent
87
Very good
86
Average
15
Poor
2
Terrible
1
Joanne H
London, UK955 contributions
Oct 2023 • Solo
I expected Xidi to be like Hongcun and in some ways it was, but in other ways I think it was nicer. It was a lot quieter - there's a little less to see, but the backstreets were great for a wander. Fewer shops and places to eat, but still plenty of options. Some lovely little courtyard gardens amongst the various halls.
I got there on the #8 bus from Hongcun West Gate bus station; the one I caught left at 09:10 and on the way back it left Xidi at 30 minutes past the hour. Took about half an hour and cost 6 RMB each way (pay by cash or scan the QR code).
I got there on the #8 bus from Hongcun West Gate bus station; the one I caught left at 09:10 and on the way back it left Xidi at 30 minutes past the hour. Took about half an hour and cost 6 RMB each way (pay by cash or scan the QR code).
Written 14 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JMy76
Shanghai, China73 contributions
Dec 2019
A guide showed us the many ancient houses and what we should draw our attention to. Without her we would have missed many details, as the descriptions on the boards are less informative. See the details of life in that place (children's seat), sometimes even used today (warming chair).
Written 3 December 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BrunoAMS
Lisbon, Portugal130 contributions
Mar 2016 • Couples
These is one of the top three villages, you should consider visiting in the area, being this and Hongcun the more touristic and Pingshan the less but not the less beautiful comparing these 3. The entrance welcomes you with some beautiful river, and flowers landscape. If you can try to plan to go on mid/end of March beginning of April the time the environment is breathtaking with blossoms of yellow flowers, the rape flowers, they use to produce oil. The yellow colors, the river and the village houses together are really a must. Lot of shops with local products, some carvings, however the most impressing carvings on the houses are in my opinion in Hongcun village. It a a first good village where you can start your tour in a village day tour. You may find lot of tourists here, lot of groups, so arrive early of you can. It is a 45 min to 1 hour drive from Huangshan.
If you find this review helpful please give me a helpful vote. Have a nice trip.
If you find this review helpful please give me a helpful vote. Have a nice trip.
Written 11 October 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
xamhayana
South Pole434 contributions
Dec 2011 • Couples
Xidi is one of the most beautiful villages in the area, but it's also a well-oil tourism machine. Huge parking lot amid the farmland, a battalion of personnel in fuchsia parkas, multichannel electronic turnstiles and steep entrance fees make Xidi quite a spectacle. Every twenty minutes a tour group gallops through the village after the trumpeting guide (December is a low season). It's been like this for thirty years, but intensified since the Unesco certification in 2000.
To enter the village costs Y104. To spend time there costs even more. Foreigners are only allowed to stay in a specially designated hotel but we were able to talk our way into an inn for the Chinese for Y140 a night. We paid Y130 for a modest dinner of three vegetable dishes with rice. The villagers know it's a rip-off, but there isn't one person here who is not part of the industry. Everyone is either a keeper of their house museum, souvenir vendor or produce supplier for the village restaurants and inns. Xidi is a resort with an antique flavor, but not for history buffs, more like for those with nostalgia for well-heeled pastoral past.
I don't know how authentic Xidi is as a sample of Ming and Qing architecture. Every gateway and courtyard we've seen has been extensively 'restored', 'improved' and patched up, rid of Cultural Revolution damage together with some character. As a historic landscape, Xidi is not as dead as Xitang (near Shanghai), but not as alive as Shaxi in Yunnan. The original reason for the village to be is entirely gone. No doubt, it's China's encouragement of domestic consumption, part of which is internal tourism, that makes Xidi and Hongcun an integral part of the 'Huangshan package'. The proximity to rich Shanghai and Hangzhou is also important.
Is Xidi worth visiting? Yes, if you haven't seen historic Anhui architecture in context. No, if you've been to Hongcun or other villages in southern Anhui or northern Jiangxi (Wuyuan etc). Xidi is easy to access by public bus from Tunxi or Tangkou (Y13).
To enter the village costs Y104. To spend time there costs even more. Foreigners are only allowed to stay in a specially designated hotel but we were able to talk our way into an inn for the Chinese for Y140 a night. We paid Y130 for a modest dinner of three vegetable dishes with rice. The villagers know it's a rip-off, but there isn't one person here who is not part of the industry. Everyone is either a keeper of their house museum, souvenir vendor or produce supplier for the village restaurants and inns. Xidi is a resort with an antique flavor, but not for history buffs, more like for those with nostalgia for well-heeled pastoral past.
I don't know how authentic Xidi is as a sample of Ming and Qing architecture. Every gateway and courtyard we've seen has been extensively 'restored', 'improved' and patched up, rid of Cultural Revolution damage together with some character. As a historic landscape, Xidi is not as dead as Xitang (near Shanghai), but not as alive as Shaxi in Yunnan. The original reason for the village to be is entirely gone. No doubt, it's China's encouragement of domestic consumption, part of which is internal tourism, that makes Xidi and Hongcun an integral part of the 'Huangshan package'. The proximity to rich Shanghai and Hangzhou is also important.
Is Xidi worth visiting? Yes, if you haven't seen historic Anhui architecture in context. No, if you've been to Hongcun or other villages in southern Anhui or northern Jiangxi (Wuyuan etc). Xidi is easy to access by public bus from Tunxi or Tangkou (Y13).
Written 31 December 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Easterbeilbs
Adelaide, Australia242 contributions
This village was much less frequented by tourists than Hongcun on the day we visited.
Easy to walk around with lots of old Ming dynasty houses and courtyard gardens to enter.
Surrounded by working fields and a lake makes it even more scenic.
Took a Chinese tour from Tunxi Old Town (talk to the youth hostel). The guide new enough to English to tell us what time to meet the bus giving freedom to explore at own pace with the comfort of having reliable transport.
Transport, entrance to both villages and a Chinese lunch (260RMB) from 8am til 5pm.
Easy to walk around with lots of old Ming dynasty houses and courtyard gardens to enter.
Surrounded by working fields and a lake makes it even more scenic.
Took a Chinese tour from Tunxi Old Town (talk to the youth hostel). The guide new enough to English to tell us what time to meet the bus giving freedom to explore at own pace with the comfort of having reliable transport.
Transport, entrance to both villages and a Chinese lunch (260RMB) from 8am til 5pm.
Written 15 October 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
taomalte
Aarhus, Denmark17 contributions
Nov 2017
We visited Xidi on a weekday in the beginning of November - the town wasn’t crowded at all, prices reasonable and definitely worth a visit.
I’m giving this review because I had a hard time figuring out the details on how to get there myself. So here’s how to get there. If you go from Huangshan City, you can take at bus from Tunxi Bus Station (屯溪汽车站) to Xidi for ¥18 per person. This bus trip is around 1 hour and 15 minutes and you will have to change to a car at one point to get to the actual town of Xidi (that’s included in the bus ticket). There’s hourly departures by bus to Xidi - I went by the earliest one at 8:15.
If you’re bringing your luggage to Xidi, you are able to store it free or charge at the tourist center (to the left of the ticket office). From here you can buy cheap bus tickets to Hongcun (there’s a bus departure at 14:05 and it takes around 20 minutes).
If you have a valid student ID, you can buy the entrance ticket for half the price. Full price: ¥ 104.
I’m giving this review because I had a hard time figuring out the details on how to get there myself. So here’s how to get there. If you go from Huangshan City, you can take at bus from Tunxi Bus Station (屯溪汽车站) to Xidi for ¥18 per person. This bus trip is around 1 hour and 15 minutes and you will have to change to a car at one point to get to the actual town of Xidi (that’s included in the bus ticket). There’s hourly departures by bus to Xidi - I went by the earliest one at 8:15.
If you’re bringing your luggage to Xidi, you are able to store it free or charge at the tourist center (to the left of the ticket office). From here you can buy cheap bus tickets to Hongcun (there’s a bus departure at 14:05 and it takes around 20 minutes).
If you have a valid student ID, you can buy the entrance ticket for half the price. Full price: ¥ 104.
Written 3 November 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
FairCityFrasie
Perth, UK1,951 contributions
Apr 2018 • Family
Spent an afternoon in the ancient village of Xidi - it is about 15Km from Hongcun, where we were staying. Xidi is about 800-900 years old and I suppose the architecture has not changed much in that time and its heritage is preserved by UNESCO. There is a fee of circa 100CNY to enter the village and you can cover it all within 2 hours or so. There is an excellent viewpoint overlooking the village, which you can easily walk to through the rapeseed fields and small orchards. Not as commercialised as Hongcun and (when we were there) much more quiet, there are masses of artists drawing/painting images of Xidi. On balance I prefer Hongcun to Xidi as a spectacle - Xidi is smaller and has fewer "sights". Well worth the visit for ta taste of old Anhui.
Written 18 April 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Eva B
Bangkok, Thailand58 contributions
Apr 2018 • Family
We booked a taxi from Tangku (300 yuan) and spent half a day, including lunch, in this beautiful village. It was a sunny day in April and the sights were enchanting. An entrance fee of 140 yuan is charged, no further charges apply to visit historical dwellings (explanation in English available at each of them). We were the only westerners there. There were some groups of Chinese tourists but not too many and the village is large enough. Many art students were at work, which added to the picturesque atmosphere. Many food options, but no Chinese menus. We had dumplings (boiled at the table) in the food street. This is of course mainly a heritage spot but people live here as well and the back streets are very quiet.
Written 11 April 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Phil_Naj
Bangkok, Thailand13 contributions
Apr 2017 • Couples
The area is slowly crumbling, but it adds to the experience. While there is a certain amount of poverty (not extreme), people seem generally happy. Overall, it is a fascinating place that encourages you to imagine it's past while reminding you that time and neglect is taking it's toll. It could have been worthwhile to have had a guided tour by a local (that speaks English) through the area
Written 9 November 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jarko2015
Amsterdam, The Netherlands1,731 contributions
Sept 2017 • Solo
Far more compact, yet with a lot more to see than Hongcun, this village really surprised me as Hongcun has the better rave reviews. It costs the same to enter (RMB104) but it's closer to Tunxi and far less crowded. There are many more halls, houses and temples to see than in Hongcun, although there are still many, many cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops, which does spoil the authenticity a little. Tours are available, but only in Chinese.
Written 30 September 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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