Xiencheng is a very nice little town in Southwest China with very little tourist traffic that you probably have never heard of.
If you’re in Xiencheng it’s probably to overnight here waiting for a bus to take you to another town. Xiencheng is not so much a destination as it is a stopover. To get in or out of here you will have to cross over some scary mountains on crazy roads. Pray it doesn’t rain.
When you arrive don’t worry about finding a room. The locals know when the daily buses arrive and will be waiting to offer you a room when you arrive. If for some unknown reason no one is there to invite you in, the only hotel registered to host foreign devils is right down the street from the bus station, you can’t miss it.
The most rewarding thing to do here is to hike up to the monastery at the top of the town and have a look around. These monks don’t see as many tourists as some so they’re more interested in showing you around, and the place is surrounded by snowcapped peaks, and the monks have the best view in town.
One monk was especially interested in our Mandarin/English dictionary. We tried to get him to show us the “secret” Dali Lama room, but he insisted they didn’t have one and the Pechin Lama was the best. Maybe next time.
