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Xidi and Hongcun Ancient Villages Photo Tour

Xidi and Hongcun Ancient Villages Photo Tour

Xidi Village

Xidi village is a very beautiful village located near Huangshan Mountain in Anhui Province. It is the perfect place for visitors to see typical folk houses where residents have lived as they have for centuries. It gives visitors the rare opportunity to explore China's ancient culture, and arts.

A memorial arch in Xidi Village

A collection of ancient stone lions in Xidi Village

With a history of over 900 years, Xidi Village is segmented by over 40 ancient winding and narrow lanes which are paved with bluestones. Visitors strolling through this ancient village will discover traditional Hui-style houses, ancestral temples, academies of classical learning, stone archways, white walls and grey tiles, beautifully paned windows, projecting horse-head walls, and stone slab bridge.

Xidi Village's white walls and black roofs looks like a traditional Chinese painting come to life

A house's front door

From that moment when visitors step into this village they feel that every inch of it was designed by artists. On the marble doorframes, flowers, birds and beasts can be found carved on them. The carved bricks feature: pavilions, human figures, and scenes from local operas.

Architectural details from the Qing Dynasty

Each building in Xidi Village looks like it was designed by an artist making each building unique

Xidi Village appears like a page in a fairy tale. Embraced by mountains, with clear streams flowing through it and goldfish ponds scattered throughout it, and with paddy fields placed in front of it, Xidi Village looks to picturesque to be real. Recently architects, planners, sculptors, industrial artists, and painters have discovered the untouched beauty of Xidi and have been heading to this village as it provides them with abundant sources of inspiration.

The interiors of the houses are set up as they were during China’s last Imperial Dynasties

The interiors of the houses are set up as they were during China's last Imperial Dynasties

Every inch of most houses are covered with exquisite carvings

The entire village is lined with canals to bring fresh water to each household

Around every corner is another amazing view

Another waterway running through Xidi Village

Hongcun Village

Hongcun Village is located in Yixian County, located near the southwestern slope of Huangshan Mountain. It is listed as one of China's top 10 charming villages and together with Xidi Village it was added to UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage List in 2000. Morning mists, gray tiles, white walls, stone bridges, water lily ponds, and hills at the background, are all elements of traditional Chinese landscape paintings. Hongcun Village has all of these features, and has been named "a village in the Chinese painting".

This well-preserved centuries old village is unique. What makes Hongcun Village so unique is that the village was designed by a fengshui master.

Hongcun is unique among all Chinese villages for its very sophisticated water system. Water is the main feature in this village. Its two large ponds are connected to a series of flowing streams which pass by every house, providing water for washing, cooking, and bathing.

Visitors to Hongcun Village can leisurely ramble around, chat with villagers, listen to the ancient stories, taste local delicacies, shop for antiques, admire the wisdom of the ancients from poetry pasted on house columns, Hui-style architecture, the exquisite wood and stone-work, and the subtleties of the fengshui arrangement. For anyone who loves to paint, don't forget your art supplies.

Hongcun Village situated near Huangshan Mountain