The Ancient Tea Horse Road passes through Sichuan and Yunnan, connects Tibet and India to the north, and connects to Southeast Asia in the south. The ancient road passes through Dali, Lijiang, Shangri-La and other places in Yunnan. Between these famous towns, there is an ancient market - Shaxi Sideng Street.
As a major channel outside the three major Silk Roads for China’s external exchanges, the Ancient Tea Horse Road is known as the “Tea Horse” because the transportation process mainly passes through horse caravans, and its main trading objects are tea and horses. Ancient Road". Shaxi is located between Dali and Lijiang. It is a land terminal on the Yunnan-Tibet Ancient Tea Horse Road. Coupled with the excavation of Nanzhao and Dayi Kingdom Grottoes, Shaxi has become a trade distribution center on the Tea Horse Ancient Road and the Buddhist culture of Nanzhao and Dali Kingdom. The activity center is an ancient town that integrates commerce and Buddhist culture. It can be said to be very prominent. Perhaps God has a special liking for Shaxi. After the Tang Dynasty, four major salt wells were gradually built with Shaxi as the center-Misha Salt Well, Qiaohou Lucheng Well, Yunlong Nuodeng Salt Well, and Lanzhou Laji Salt Well. The development of Shaxi is the icing on the cake and adds fuel to the fire. As the ancient Tea Horse Road market closest to Sijing, the ancient town has become the salt capital of the Tea Horse Road. It has become a distribution center for the salt supply in Tibet and northwest Yunnan. It has gradually become a major player in the tea and horse trade. Finally, another important commodity. The discovery and mining of salt wells caused a qualitative change in Shaxi's role as a land terminal on the Tea-Horse Ancient Road, and it became an important salt capital. This further promoted the development of Shaxi's economy and culture, making Shaxi an agricultural, industrial, and industrial center on the Tea-Horse Road. It is one of the most economically developed regions in terms of business and transportation industries. The rise and development of the economy will inevitably promote the development of national religious culture. Shaxi temporarily became a gathering place for Buddhist culture, thus promoting the Shaxi area to become the main area for Buddhist esoteric religious activities in the Erhai region, making Shaxi a city with developed economy and trade and prosperous culture. ancient town.
The ancient town of Shaxi has gone through a process of development, growth, glory and decline, leaving only the silent stone bridges, ancient roads and ancient streets quietly telling its past, and only the water of the Heihui River is silent It brings the glorious journey of Shaxi on the Tea Horse Road into the distant sea. Sideng Sifang Street is the soul and core of Shaxi, and the place for business transactions in Shaxi. It is located at the top of Aofeng Mountain in the center of Shaxi Bazi, at the top of the "S" shaped bend of the Heihui River, surrounded by mountains and rivers. It is a geomantic treasure with excellent geographical location. It is a thousand-year-old market with complete functions including temples, ancient stages, shops, horse stores, open red sandstone streets, century-old trees, ancient lanes, and village gates. It is hailed as "the only surviving ancient market on the Tea Horse Road" by experts from the World Monumental Architecture Foundation!
Historically, Sideng Sifang Street was called "Nantang". In the late Ming Dynasty, it was named after the Xingjiao Temple, so it was called Sideng Sifang Street. Temple refers to Xingjiao Temple; Deng is a Bai language, meaning place. Located next to Xingjiao Temple, it is a square street. This is the origin of the name Sideng Sifang Street.
After walking through the Yujin Bridge, an ancient stone bridge on the bank of the Heihui River, and walking along the ancient road for about 100 meters, a village gate made of adobe appeared in front of you. This is what the villagers call "street". The Dongzhai Gate is called "Zimen", indicating that entering this gate is the market. This village gate is made of adobe. Compared with the tall and mighty stone city gates in other places, although it looks a bit shabby, rustic and narrow, it shows the world what the gate of the Tea Horse Road Market looks like - ―An adobe wall gate that only allows two horses to pass through at the same time. There are three gates in Sideng Ancient Street - Dongzhai Gate (leading to the Dali area), Nanzhai Gate (connecting the Dianxi Salt Well in the south and west of the ancient town), and Beizhai Gate (leading to the Tibet area).
After passing the village gate, a narrow and long ancient lane comes leisurely, with dilapidated ancient shops on both sides standing quietly on both sides of the lane. The strong commercial atmosphere hits us, making people think of the ancient times when caravans entered the village gate and passed through the lanes. Nowadays, there are three ancient lanes in Sideng that are still called "Jiezi Lane" by local people, which means that the first business transaction in Sideng's history was done in the lanes. Nowadays, the three lanes are basically completely preserved. Being in them is like going back to the past of the Tea Horse Road lanes, giving people a feeling of looking back on the past and the present, and making associations.
At the end of the long and narrow lane is Sifang Street, the economic and trade center of Sideng. Sifang Street is shaped like a curved ruler. The main street is about 300 meters long from north to south and 100 meters wide from east to west. The northern street is about 100 meters long from east to west and about 50 meters wide from north to south. The entire street is paved with red sandstone slabs. There are two trees in the center of the street. Ancient locust trees that are as old as 10 years old.
To the east of Sifang Street there is an ancient stage facing west, and to the west there is Xingjiao Temple facing east. The two echo each other, dividing Sifang Street into two halves, north and south. The whole street is surrounded by shops and horse stores, and there are three ancient lanes. Extending to all directions of the ancient town.
Sideng Sifang Street used to have a market every three days, which was very lively. Caravans from all over the place came to the ancient street through the lanes one after another to stay in hotels the afternoon before the market day. The Dongjing ancient music, Bai Bawang whip dance and folk song performances on the stage start on the afternoon of the day before, and the performance lasts all night and lasts for two days. The locals call it "two nights and two days of play". Sideng Sifang Street has the most commercial atmosphere. The buildings that reflect the Tea Horse Road Market are the commercial buildings densely scattered around the street and on both sides of the lanes. It is the guarantee that the entire street will last for thousands of years. To put it simply, the front shop and back horse shop means that the houses facing the street and lanes are opened into shops, which are mainly used for business or renting out to others. The houses and courtyards behind are opened into horse shops for accommodation and accommodation for caravans and merchants traveling from north to south. Stocking and storing horses. This kind of commercial layout is all around Sifang Street and on both sides of the three ancient lanes and has been basically preserved intact, making it the only surviving town of the Tea Horse Road Market.
The ancient stage is the most distinctive building on Sideng Sifang Street. It is located in the center of the building complex on the east side of Sifang Street and forms a central axis with the Xingjiao Temple temple and temple gate buildings on the west. Ancient Sifang Street is divided into north and south halves, thus delineating the business scope and providing physical signs. The main building structure of the ancient stage is Kuixing Pavilion. The stage is only an incidental function. It is a place where the local Bai people worship Kuixing. The building is three stories high, with a stage in the front and a high pavilion in the back. The architectural structure is exquisite, with twelve horns, and the wings are like flying. Although it has been repaired, it basically maintains the original architectural style. The ancient stage and Xingjiao Temple echo each other from a distance. Every ethnic festival, all the Bai people in the town dress up in festive costumes, play the three-stringed dragon head, and gather in Sifang Street to sing and dance on the stage. Sifang Street is crowded with people, and the faithful men and women in Xingjiao Temple worship gods and Buddhas. It is a joyful and auspicious atmosphere. . The most lively event is the Prince's Meeting held on the eighth day of the second lunar month every year. It is said that there has always been such a rule in Shaxi. If you have not performed on the Sifang Street ancient stage, you cannot be called a Shaxi person. It can be seen that the ancient stage of Sifang Street holds a high position in people's hearts. Shaxi Ancient Bridge
Every Shaxi person is proud to perform on the ancient stage and regards performing on stage as an important symbol of the Shaxi people. This tradition has created generations of artists, singers, and dancers, making Shaxi a "home of singing and dancing" in the eyes of outsiders. The Shaxi Bai people are a "singing and dancing nation". A saying circulated among the caravans, "Hui Shui is beautiful, Shaxi girls are even more beautiful" expresses the Shaxi in the hearts of the caravans.
Wander the red sandstone slabs of the ancient streets, climb the ancient stage, take a look at the shops and horse shops on Sifang Street, walk on the Yujin Bridge on the Heilongjiang River, and go to Xingjiao Temple to experience the integration of various schools of Buddhism into one In the temple, listen to the ancient music of the Shaxi Cave Sutra, experience the charm of the ancient music of the ancient nation, watch the traditional Bawang Whip of the Bai people, dance the traditional Xiaola dance of the Bai people, listen to the Shaxi girl singing a Bai tune, Try the local specialties of Shaxi: ginseng seeds, matsutake mushrooms, and goat's milk cake. We are grateful that a complete ancient market can be preserved on the Tea Horse Road.