Zhoucheng Town
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Zhoucheng Town is the biggest town of Bai people in Dali. More than 1,500 Bai families live in their houses which are located all together there in Zhoucheng Town.
In the town you can see typical houses of Bai people with closed courtyards, consisting of three rooms and a "shining wall." The purpose of the "shining wall" is to reflect light into the houses. Another configuration consists of four rows of houses and five dooryards. For some of the houses, one family has one courtyard; while others have several courtyards for one family. These houses have a square plan. The roof contains two layers of eaves made from green tiles and is designed in the shape of the Chinese character 人. There are three to five major rooms which face east or south. They are built with bricks and stones and with a wooden frame that is held together by means of tenons. Sometimes several courtyards are connected with each other and make a single large courtyard. The walls outside are washed with a layer of fine mud and then painted over with a layer of lime.
Bai people pay special attention to the decorations of the shining walls, windows, doors, the frontispiece and the gate-towers. The shining wall is a necessary part of the construction style of one major house, which includes two wing-rooms and courtyards. The shining wall is topped with two layers of flying eaves with up-holding corners. The eaves are made from green tiles. The shining wall stands in front of the main room. It connects the two wing-rooms and the frontispiece so that the three form an enclosed courtyard. The center of the shining wall is brushed with lime, inscribed with characters, or inlaid with marble screens. These are enclosed by frames in the shape of fans, squares and circles. The objects within the frames are colored by painting with water mill or powder. Most of the doors and windows, especially the lattice door in the living room of the major house, are made from rare lumbers like toons(Mahagony). The doors and windows are carved with patterns like golden chickens jumping onto the branches which are the symbol of being rich and successful, and kylins which are the symbol of being lucky and propitious. The foundation of the gate is built from Haidongqin Stones and has clear edges and corners. On the foundation is the wooden gate tower. The gate tower is carefully carved, and has a precise structure, and flying eaves and up-holding corners.
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The right town is not easy to find. We were led by a local to a workshop for shopping when we were trying to locate the town.