Continuing our journey to Xidi Gucunluo (西递古村落) village close to Baishancun in the morning thru the countryside.
I woke up and started the preparations for our next visit. Had some breakfast at the Huangling mountain parking area and enjoyed the views on the way while driving.
This was only two hours drive from Huangling mountains so we can enjoy a longer stay. Unfortunately, it started to rain heavily as soon as we arrived at the site, but this does not stop us from visiting the village. This village is one of the most beautiful and well preserved that I have seen. Narrow streets, small shops, and happy people.
This is one of the World Heritage sites in Asia and
Hongcun was established in 1131 by Wang Wen, a general during the Han Dynasty. Like the neighboring Hu family in Xidi, the Wang family became prosperous merchants and the city grew in size from 1400 to about 1900. The architecture and carvings of the approximately 150 residences dating back to the Ming and Qing Dynasties are said to be among the best of their kind in China. One of the biggest of the residences open to visitors, Chenzhi Hall, also contains a small museum. The village is arranged in the shape of an ox with the nearby hill (Leigang Hill) interpreted as the head, and two trees standing on it as the horns. Four bridges across the Jiyin stream can be seen as the legs whilst the houses of the village form the body. Inside the “body”, the Jiyin stream represents the intestines and various lakes such as the “South Lake” (Nanhu) form the other internal organs. A 400-year-old waterway connects each residential household to the two water sources in the town, with most of the streets built alongside them. These streets are paved with original Yi County granite. The usual residences of the town contain a central courtyard surrounded by symmetrical bays of rooms, although there are much larger and more private houses for the weather citizens.
Wikipedia
Strolling around in the village and found many interesting shops
Most shops are very old, and the antiques for sale are interesting. Nowadays, needed to be careful as there are so many fake antiques. But if the price is correct and you like the design, why not? I had to cut down the number of pictures I put here as there were so many interesting places you can visit here.
Arrival to “To Journey” 途居露营地(黄山店) campsite.
After driving past the mountains by road G330, we finally arrived at the campsite. This is a big camping chain in China, and this place is huge. No issues with registering even though we came late. As usual, during this trip, we were outside the peak season, and the campsite was almost empty. According to personnel, this can accommodate about 2000 happy campers in the hotel or caravans. Let’s see next day what we can find here.
CrissCrossChina review
Road trip | Easter 2021 | Xidi Gucunluo centuries-old village | Day 6
Petri Muurimaki
This is our testimonial
Positive
- Really authentic village has not been destroyed by modernization
- Shops including other than the normal tourist stuff
- If you like beer there is also a small bar street with a couple of small bars
- The small alleys crossing here and there
Negative
- No campsite closeby
- Can it be negative? Raining all day 🙂
