Shitouzhai, 25 kilometres south of Anshun, is the most visited of Guizhou's Buyi stone villages, and the tourism has not quite overwhelmed the fact that it is also a functioning community. The stone buildings — houses, walls, and a small temple — crowd a hillside in the characteristic Buyi manner, with narrow lanes and stepped paths connecting levels. The batik workshops on the main lane sell cloth and small items; the quality varies, but some of the older women running family workshops produce work that is genuinely well-made.
The village market happens every five days in the Guizhou traditional calendar (not on fixed days of the week); if you happen to be there on a market day, the lanes fill with Buyi families from the surrounding villages trading cloth, vegetables, and livestock. The combination of stone architecture, batik culture, and the working market makes Shitouzhai the most authentic village experience near Anshun. You can reach it by taxi from Anshun for about 40 yuan each way.