Laosi City is located in Sicheng Village, Lingxi Town, more than 20 kilometers east of the county seat. Originally named Fushi City, this ancient town is also known as Sicheng or Laosi City for serving as the imperial capital of the Tusi Dynasty that ruled for 800 years. During the Tusi era, Fushi City stood as the political, economic and cultural hub of ancient Xizhou, thriving with extraordinary prosperity.

Folklore holds that Laosi City consisted of an inner walled town and an outer walled town, crisscrossed by eight main streets and ten alleyways. Dense households lined the thoroughfares alongside flourishing shops. Historical records document that "three thousand households resided within the city walls, and eight hundred dwellings lay outside", praising it as "a grand market town among the Five Streams and a frontier city stretching ten thousand li". Peng Shiduo, a tribute student of the Qing Dynasty, eulogized the city in his Bamboo Branch Lyrics: Within Fushi Town brocade weaves warm abodes,

Beside the Tusi palace ripples gently flow.

Ten thousand red lanterns glow above crowds layer on layer,

Amid lingering soft songs of the Hand-Waving Dance they sway.

(Remains of the Patriarch Hall, photographed by Lu Ruisheng)

A wealth of relics survives at Laosi City, forming precious cultural sites that allow tourists, experts and scholars to study the history and culture of the Tujia people. Major landmarks include the Patriarch Hall, Peng Clan Ancestral Hall, Tusi Virtuous Governance Stele, Yinan Memorial Archway, Tusi Underground Palace and clusters of ancient Tusi tombs.

The Tusi Patriarch Hall sits at the southern foot of Taiping Hill in Laosi City. First built in the 2nd year of the Tianfu reign of the Later Jin Dynasty (937 AD), it was reconstructed in the Ming Dynasty. The giant pillars of the main hall require several adults linking arms to encircle, and the wooden crossbeams bear no marks of axe or chisel — legend claims it was constructed through the divine intervention of Lu Ban, the patron god of carpentry.

Covering over 580 square meters, the main hall features a double-eaved hip-and-gable roof with five front bays and four depth bays, measuring 17.5 meters in length, 13 meters in width and 20 meters in height. The entire timber structure is supported by 34 massive wooden columns mounted on double circular drum-shaped stone bases. The ridges and eaves are paved with exquisitely patterned ceramic bricks and tiles. A stone shrine stands before the central golden pillars, housing the statue of the Patriarch. The hall boasts grand, primitive dougong brackets and a uniquely structured beam frame, representing a distinctive ethnic building of the Tujia region. It is designated a Hunan Provincial Key Cultural Relic Protection Unit.

The Peng Clan Ancestral Hall stands at the heart of Sicheng, behind the Tusi imperial bedchamber. Inside rest spirit tablets of successive Tusi rulers alongside delicate wooden statues, each bearing vivid, lifelike expressions. The hall also preserves ancient codices of ethical codes and feudal doctrines formulated by generations of Tusi chieftains. Erected in the 19th year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty (1591 AD), it was commissioned by Peng Yuanjin, the 24th Tusi and Pacification Commissioner.

A 200-meter-long official road stretches from the shrine’s main gate to the main street, ascending gradually via four terraces and more than thirty stone steps across five stair segments, exuding solemn dignity. A pair of stone drums guards the entrance, each weighing no less than 2,500 kilograms according to estimates. Local legend states that Hali Gaba, an ancient Tujia hero, carried one drum in each hand all the way from Wuguanping, over a hundred li away. Three ancient sweet osmanthus trees planted in the Tusi period still thrive before the shrine. Every August when the osmanthus blooms, the entire ancient town is filled with sweet fragrance.

(Remains of the Peng Clan Ancestral Hall, photographed by Ouyang Fangsheng)

The Yinan Memorial Archway stands on Elegant Lawn between Purple Gold Hill and Ruoyun Academy in southern Sicheng. First erected during the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, it bears the four carved characters "Descendants Shall Forever Reap the Blessings". The arch was built to honor Peng Jinan, the 26th Tusi, for leading Tujia troops to defeat Japanese pirates.

In the 33rd year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty (1554 AD), the eighteen-year-old Peng Jinan commanded five thousand Tujia soldiers to march to Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces to resist the pirates. The Tujia troops excelled at wielding hook-blades, fought in flexible formations and displayed extraordinary bravery. In the Battle of Wangjiangjing, they eliminated more than 1,900 invaders. The History of the Ming Dynasty records: "Since the emergence of Japanese pirates, no military campaign in the southeast has achieved such a great victory; this ranks as the foremost merit." The archway "Descendants Shall Forever Reap the Blessings" was erected to commemorate his feat.

(Yinan Memorial Archway)

The Tusi Virtuous Governance Stele stands to the left of the ruins of the Tusi government office, carved entirely from bluestone. It is 2.74 meters tall and 1.2 meters wide, inscribed on both front and reverse sides, topped with a stone canopy and flanked by supporting stone pillars.

Erected in the second month of the 52nd year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1713 AD) by local Tujia officials of Yongshun, the stele was dedicated to praising Peng Honghai, Pacification Commissioner of Yongshun and surrounding regions. The four seal script characters "Sweet Pear Tree’s Enduring Benevolence" crown the stele head. A couplet flanks the main tablet: This single stone engraves profound kindness and virtue;

For thousands of years verses praise the renewed rivers and hills.

The central inscription reads in full: "Stele of Virtuous Deeds of Lord Zhonghan, Retired Enfeoffed Noble and Pacification Commissioner of the Military and Civil Administration Department Imperially Appointed to Govern Yongshun and Surrounding Regions of Huguang for Generations."

The text recounts how military and civilians across 58 banners and 380 villages under his jurisdiction cherished Peng Honghai’s virtuous rule, and records the core governing philosophy of the Tusi regime: "Benevolence may win the people’s hearts, yet cannot make them forget forever; merit may shine in one’s lifetime, yet cannot serve as an eternal model for posterity."

Clusters of ancient Tusi tombs are concentrated at three sites in Sicheng: Purple Gold Hill, Elegant Lawn and Patong Lake, with the largest number resting on Purple Gold Hill. Surveys confirm 109 tombs of Tusi kings and nobles alone at this location. All Tusi rulers, local chieftains and their kin succeeding Peng Fushi were buried here, with tomb scale corresponding to the rank of the deceased.

Over thirty excavated tombs share a basic structure: semicircular vaults built of rammed earth bricks, guarded by stone human and horse sculptures at the entrance, enclosed by perimeter walls and accessible only through iron gates. The chamber walls are carved with delicate patterns of flowers, plants, dragons and phoenixes. Coffins crafted from nanmu and catalpa wood are coated in jet-black local lacquer and suspended inside the stone chambers by iron hooks. Rich burial goods accompany the dead, including gold and silver ornaments such as golden flower hairpieces, gold bracelets, hair pins, earrings and lotus-shaped jewelry, alongside diverse jade artifacts. The tombs of prominent Ming Tusi rulers including Peng Xianying and Peng Jinan remain well-preserved to this day. The ancient tomb complex is listed as a Hunan Provincial Key Cultural Relic Protection Unit.