In around 1940, the Bai industrialist Dong Chengnong began building a home in Xizhou that mirrored his own extraordinary rise. Having escaped childhood poverty to pioneer Yunnan’s modern mining industry by extracting tungsten from discarded tin slag, Dong poured his fortune into a 6,742-square-meter compound. Over four years, local builders raised a timber-soil framework of post-and-beam columns, using prized, slow-growing catalpa wood.

To pave the floors and carve the decorative details, Dong operated a private marble quarry in Shangyangxi Village. Visitors can still run their fingers over this cool, polished Dali stone, which was historically reserved for imperial temples. The eastern courtyard features a rare five-bay main room layout. This grand scale required a massive, white-washed screen wall standing over eight meters tall to catch the morning sun and shield the home from drafts. The plaster walls, painted white on top and charcoal-grey below, mimic the misty peaks of nearby Mount Cangshan.

In 1942, Dong expanded his estate westward, adding a three-story French-style villa. This structure featured imported glass, steel, concrete, and internal heating pipes. During World War II, this European-style building hosted military leaders like Chiang Ching-kuo and General Song Xilian, earning it the title of the General’s Mansion.

The estate’s history reflects the political shifts of twentieth-century China. Confiscated during the 1953 land reforms, the compound served as the PLA 60th Hospital before its transfer to the Dali government in 1986. During a twenty-million-yuan restoration in 2003, conservators used reversible techniques to protect the original structure. They carefully scraped away layers of military-era lime plaster, exposing long-hidden Bai murals and calligraphy beneath. Today, the courtyard stands as a preserved monument where the scent of old timber meets the cool touch of quarry stone, preserving the memory of a merchant who reshaped his homeland.