China Guide
The Yangzi basin
Yixian villages
You need a police permit (¥50, most easily arranged through agents in Tunxi for an extra ¥20) to stop off in YIXIAN, 60km due west of Tunxi. The town itself is a stepping stone to surrounding villages, for which you'll have to charter a minibus (about ¥30 per stop) and pay fees for compulsory guides (¥10 per person in a group, up to ¥50 if you're on you own) and admission.
Xidi (entry ¥60) is the pick of these, and hence the most visited, a particularly attractive place comprising some 120 eighteenth-century houses set along a riverbank, now turned into a large antiques market. There are endless examples of carved gilded wooden screens and panels inside the houses, as well as thin line paintings on front walls showing pairs of animals or "double happiness" characters. Mirrors placed above the three-tiered door lintels reflect bad luck or reveal a person's true character – a useful tool for judging the nature of strangers.
Hongcun is another fine spot, whose street plan resembles (with some imagination) the body of a buffalo, complete with horns, body and legs, while Nanping was used as a set in Zhang Yimou's disturbing film Judou. Combined admission for both Hongcun and Nanping is ¥60.