In the print dialog pick “Save as PDF” to keep it on your phone. A5 makes a pocket booklet; A4 suits a desk printer.
Voykit pocket guide · China
Xidang
Stay one night in Xidang as a quiet base before the Yubeng trek, not as a destination: the village itself fills half a day.
Xidang is a small Mekong valley village at 2,300 m, used by trekkers heading to Yubeng. It has a temple, a river beach and a hot-spring shower stop, but no restaurants or fresh food shops. Most travellers sleep one night and leave the next morning.
- Country
- China
- Best months
- Oct–May
- Avoid
- Jul–Aug (monsoon, leeches on trails)
- Stay
- 1 night
Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.
Essentials
- Currency
- CNY
- Money
- Alipay and WeChat Pay accept Visa, Mastercard, JCB and Amex cards; single payments over ¥200 carry a fee of about 3% on a foreign card (smaller ones are free), and per-payment and yearly caps apply — check the app. Keep a second way to pay.
- Daily spend
- Budget ¥100–200 excl. bed · Mid ¥200–350 excl. bed · High ¥350+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
- SIM and data
- A roaming eSIM from outside China routes traffic through its home network, so Google, WhatsApp and Instagram work without a VPN — the simplest setup.
- Emergency
- Police 110 · Fire 119 · Ambulance 120
- Plugs
- Types A, C, I · 220 V · 50 Hz · Many sockets take flat two-pin (A), round two-pin (C) and angled three-pin (I) plugs; UK plugs need an adapter.
- Tipping
- Restaurants: No tip; upmarket hotels add 10–15% service.; Taxis and DiDi: No tip.; Tour guides and drivers: Expected on organised tours: about ¥100–200 a day for a guide, ¥50–100 for a driver.; Hotel porters: Not expected; ¥10–20 in luxury hotels.
- Water
- Not for drinking from the tap; bottled water ¥2–5, and kettles and free bottles in hotel rooms. Restaurants serve hot water or tea.
- Toilets
- Public toilets are frequent and free; squat toilets outside hotels and malls. Carry tissues — many have no paper.
What things cost
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Bus Deqin → Xidang | ¥15–25 |
| Minivan Deqin → Xidang | ¥150 |
| Guesthouse meal (noodle or rice dish) | ¥20–40 |
| Bottle of water | ¥3–5 |
| Caterpillar fungus (local price, per gram) | ¥50–200 |
Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.
Get in
By air
- DIG · Diqing Shangri-La Airport
- About 4 h by road to Xidang; bus or minivan via Deqin.
Typical fares
- Bus Deqin → Xidang
- ¥15–25, about 1 h (check)
- Minivan Deqin → Xidang
- ¥150, about 45 min
- Bus Xidang → Deqin
- ¥15, departs 08:00¥15, departs 8:00 AM
Show 7 more sections and the pocket cardHideGet around, See and do, Sleep, Phrase card, Etiquette, safety and scams, One and two days, Sources, Pocket card
Get around
Walk. The village is small; a car can be arranged to the hot springs (¥5–10 extra on the bus, or ¥150 minivan from Deqin).
See and do
Known for
- Bajiu Temple and Mekong river beach
- Gateway to the Yubeng trek
- Caterpillar fungus and matsutake
- Quiet village atmosphere
Day trips
| Where | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Yubeng | Hike from the hot springs, about 2–3 h one way | Full day |
| Deqin | Public bus at 08:00, about 1 hPublic bus at 8:00 AM, about 1 h | 1 h |
| Mingyong | Hike on a path (not the main road), about 2 h | Half day |
| Feilaisi | Hike down from Xidang, about 1 h | 1 h |
Sleep
- Xidang village
- Guesthouses with basic rooms; solar hot water (cloudy days = cold shower).
- Hot springs area
- Cottages with spring-fed hot showers; start of the Yubeng trail.
Phrase card
| English | Say or show |
|---|---|
| Hello | 你好nǐ hǎo |
| Thank you | 谢谢xiè xiè |
| How much? | 多少钱？duō shǎo qián? |
| I don't eat meat | 我不吃肉wǒ bù chī ròu |
| Where is the toilet? | 厕所在哪里？cè suǒ zài nǎ lǐ? |
Etiquette, safety and scams
Etiquette
- Greeting: Handshake and a nod; use surnames with a title; avoid: Hugs and cheek kisses
- Face: Disagree privately and indirectly; avoid: Correcting or embarrassing someone in front of others
- Gifts: Give with two hands; expect the gift to be refused once or twice and opened later; avoid: Clocks, umbrellas, white flowers, sets of four
- Business cards: Present and receive with both hands, read it, keep it on the table; avoid: Writing on it or pocketing it at once
- Queues and crowds: Hold your ground politely in scrums at buses and lifts; avoid: Taking pushing personally
- Temples: Walk clockwise around Tibetan stupas and prayer wheels; remove hats; avoid: Touching statues or photographing where signs forbid
- Politics: Listen; follow your host's lead; avoid: Raising Tibet, Taiwan, Xinjiang, 1989 or the party leadership
- Numbers and colour: Red and 8 are lucky; red envelopes carry money gifts; avoid: Writing names in red; the number 4
Scams and watch-outs
- No fresh food shops: bring snacks and supplies from Deqin.
- Solar water heaters: hot shower only on sunny days; the hot-spring cottages are the cloudy-day backup.
- Yubeng entrance fee ¥80: refundable if you return the ticket the same day without entering Yubeng.
- Last bus to Deqin leaves Xidang at 08:00.
Xidang is safe. Risks: altitude (2,300 m, mild for most), leeches on trails in summer, and cold showers on cloudy days.
One and two days
No timed day plan for Xidang yet. Suggested stay: 1 night. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.
- Bajiu Temple and Mekong river beach
- Gateway to the Yubeng trek
- Caterpillar fungus and matsutake
- Quiet village atmosphere
Sources
Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.
- Wikivoyage: Xidang, revision 5163778 (CC BY-SA 4.0): en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=5163778
Pocket card
Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.
Printed from Voykit (/xidang). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.