Sideng Village, a former vibrant hub along the Tea and Horse Caravan Trail, is located in the Shaxi Township of Jianchuan
County in the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in northwestern Yunnan. As a pivotal stop for mercantile trade and
religious observance among caravans and pilgrims, the Shaxi Valley and Sideng Village grew as a commercial center and bustling grounds for cultural and religious exchange between diverse ethnic groups before stagnating under the changing economic, political and industrial landscape of the mid-2()th century. China opened a new chapter in history in the 1950s and 60s that included the emergence of modern transportation and an extended period of industrialization that continues through the present. The Shaxi Rehabilitation
Project (SRP) was conceived in 2002 to protect and revitalize the imperiled cultural and natural heritage of Sideng Village and the Shaxi Valley, and was selected by UNESCO as a pilot case study for the project, "Sustainable Management of World Heritage Sites for Poverty Reduction". In 2004, SRP was honored with the prestigious Certificate of Exceptional Accomplishment from the World Monuments Fund in 2004 and the Award of Distinction from the 2005 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation in 2005.