The contemporary rebirth of a 78-year-old house, led by the SC design team.
The renovation was led by the domestic avant-garde design team SC and took one year and three months of meticulous work. The original beam and column structure of the 78-year-old house was fully preserved. On the basis of the utmost respect for the soul of the ancient Bai ethnic architecture in Shaxi, the wabi-sabi aesthetic and Song Dynasty elements were perfectly integrated to create a hotel that combines vacation, leisure and culture.
Design concept: A spatio-temporal poem of coexistence between the old and the new
Restoration as it was - Every old beam and pillar has undergone traditional tung oil anti-corrosion treatment. The mottled rammed earth walls have been carefully preserved. Sunlight filters through the century-old wooden carved windows, casting flowing shadows on the ground.
Coarse earthenware, hand-textured lacquer walls, and the asymmetrical beauty of imperfection create an "imperfect Zen" atmosphere.
The Song Dynasty's finishing touch - the "blank space" layout in landscape paintings, collides with the Bai ethnic group's fire pit culture, creating a new context of Eastern aesthetics.
Spatial highlights: Every corner tells a design story
Sleeping under the main beam from 1978, the bed faces the direction of the Yu Jin Bridge. Open the window in the morning and see the green mountains.
The dry landscape sand-patterned floor can change according to your mood. Sit in meditation under the maple tree, and watch the fish play in the pond in the courtyard.
Inside the deliberately preserved half-collapsed earthen wall, a transparent glass tea room is embedded. On rainy days, watch the water drops fall between the ancient wall and modern materials.
"We do not aim to be 'another Shaxi homestay',
but rather let the 78 years of wind and rain, the jingle of the horse caravans,
and the three thousand worlds within the 'silence' of wabi-sabi,
all continue to thrive in this space."
-- SC Design Team | Notes from the Founder of Ruoliu
'We had a 5 night stay here at this B&B early July 2026. Location is great, an easy walk to the ancient tea and horse road and the place is surrounded by some of Shaxi's top instagrammable restaurants. Some of the other pros - the team were able to help arrange car transfers from Xizhou and to Lijiang and when asked of anything - they were quick to act and respond. Some things we didn't enjoy so much was the room location. We were in room 101, with our entrance and window right near the common area door, so not only were we contending with the general noise from the courtyard area, but the noise carrying from the kitchen and common area. In addition, the sleeping area upstairs is right next to the laundry room and unfortunately we had not only the washing machine run one night at 10.30pm, and then at 7am one morning (where you could also hear the water running up and down the pipes), but guests walking up and down the stairs, talking on the phone both at early and late times. We could have also just had a unfortunate round of guests - one kid that felt the need to sing and talk non-stop outside in the courtyard and a large group of friends chinwagging all day, playing cards, doing exercises in the courtyard, but I'd probably recommend a room change if you notice you get this room near the common area. It is also worth noting there is quite alot of construction going in and around the property at the moment with some material being left around, but to be fair when walking around Shaxi, construction/restoration generally feels like it is happening everywhere.'