Dali! Xizhou Ancient Town! Check in at the popular rice paddies from your window.

Dali Gujina No. 28 Courtyard is hidden in the northeast corner of Xizhou Ancient Town, just across an alley from the popular rice paddies. This courtyard, converted from a century-old Bai ethnic house, completely preserves the original layout of "three rooms and a screen wall." The designer deconstructs tradition with modern minimalist techniques. The exposed rammed earth walls form a dialogue of time and space with the tempered glass, and paper artists' custom-made dandelion chandeliers hang from the old wooden beams. The guest rooms are all based on the blue and white tones of Bai ethnic tie-dye, and the rice paddy view rooms are equipped with panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows and cantilevered bathtubs. The details are worth savoring: the bedding is made of Jianchuan handmade linen, the mini-bar contains Xizhou Poplar Buns and rose jam, and the bathroom amenities are local small-grain coffee scrubs. The attic room has an electric skylight in the sloping roof, where you can fall asleep with the Milky Way as your pillow at night. Breakfast is a "rice paddy nine-square grid" full of ritual, including Rushan rice wine soup, Weishan rice noodles and other local snacks. In the afternoon, you can experience the "Three-Course Tea Workshop" in the tea room, where the master will demonstrate the ancient method of adding walnut slices when roasting tea. The mushroom hot pot launched in winter uses Shaxi handmade black pottery pots, paired with the owner's homemade plum wine. The Xizhou Morning Market is a 5-minute walk away, where the Xidou powder before 7:00 am is the most authentic. Crossing the rice paddies to the east is the popular Fangfei Cafe, and a 10-minute walk west will take you to the Yan Family Courtyard. If you want to avoid the crowds, you can ask the butler for directions to the Benzhu Temple in Chengbei Village, where the 300-year-old Chinese pistache tree in front of the temple is breathtakingly beautiful in autumn.