Brief information on Hongcun Village  

In the mountainous region of southern Anhui Province, there are many ancient villages deigned in the typical Anhui architectural style. Hongcun Village, regarded as the most beautiful village among them all, is an ancient village with hundreds of years of history. It was established in 1131, during the Southern Song Dynasty. Today, the village covers an area of 28 hectares, but it was approximately 19.11 hectares in ancient times. It was the main village on the only road between Yixian and the capital, catering for businessmen on the route. Many of the houses in the village have kept their original appearance.  

Interestingly enough, Hongcun in layout is similar to the shape of an ox, and this earned the village the name ”ox village”. Leigang Mountain overlooking the village is the head of the ox with the lush trees in the mountain forming its horn, and the row upon row of traditional buildings appearing to look like the body of ox. The founders of the village made a great use of the steep mountain slopes, harnessing the natural flow of water down the mountain using man-made waterways, called Shuizhen by the ancient Chinese.

The famous film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon stunned the world and touched many people with its breathtaking scenes of white walls and grey tiles reflected in water, some scenes of which were filmed in Hongcun Village. In December 2000, the village was approved by UNESCO as a world heritage site, becoming the 29th in China. During the course of history the walls of the tall buildings have been washed clear by rain and the cobbles of the paved alleyways smoothed, but unsurprisingly a startling sense of history pervades the village. The fashionably dressed young locals of nowadays still talk about both the long history of their village and the honour and glory of their ancestors. Here you can find ancient houses that have shared the fortunes of their owners for generation after generation.

*You can download the bilingual note to show it to a taxi driver or someone else to find your way to Hongcun Village if you plan to visit Hongcun Village and have language problems.

   

Adress: Hongcun Village, Huangshan City, Anhui Province