I would like to ask what about Xidi and Hongcun, the ancient villages in South Anhui?

In the green mountains and beautiful waters of South Anhui Province, China, scattered with such villages, a block of pink walled and tiled century-old houses, staggered and set in the quiet and beautiful land of South Anhui Province. They are exemplary works of Huizhou architecture, a major school of architecture that matured in the late stage of ancient Chinese society. Which of the two world-class ancient villages do you think is more interesting?

Which is the best place to visit, Xidi or Hongcun? Like other ancient villages in southern Anhui Province, Xidi and Hongcun are World Heritage Sites. The mountains and isolated terrain have preserved the original architecture of the villages as they were when they were first built centuries ago. Xidi and Hongcun are both national 5A scenic spots, famous Chinese historical and cultural villages and Chinese traditional villages.

Why are the ancient villages of Xidi and Hongcun in South Anhui included in the World Heritage List? This is how the World Heritage Committee evaluates: Xidi and Hongcun, two traditional ancient villages, still maintain to a large extent the appearance of those villages that have disappeared or changed in the last century. The style of their streets, ancient buildings and decorations (Xidi Village still has 124 intact Ming and Qing Dynasty houses and three ancestral halls. Hongcun also has 158 ancient buildings of the Ming and Qing dynasties, of which 137 are well preserved), as well as residential houses with complete water supply systems are very unique cultural relics.

●Hongcun

Hongcun is located in Yixian County, Huangshan, Anhui Province, Hongcun Town, built in the Southern Song Dynasty Shaoxi years, more than 800 years ago, the overall planning and rational layout of the construction of the ancient water system known as "China's best" cattle-shaped village, a major miracle of the world's historical and cultural heritage today. Hongcun integrates humanistic and natural landscapes, green mountains and water, lake light and cloud shadow constitute the unique charm of Hongcun, so it is known as "the countryside in Chinese paintings".

To the northwest of the village, a stream cuts a canal around the house and passes through the household, with nine curves and ten bends of the aqueduct, gathering the natural springs in the village and storing them into a pond in the shape of a bucket moon, shaped like a cow's intestines and a cow's stomach. Drainage finally injected into the village south of the lake, mynah called tripe. Then, people have set up four bridges around the village streams and rivers, as cattle legs. After several years, a totem of a cow jumped out.

This original scientific design of the village water system, not only for the villagers to solve the fire water, but also regulate the temperature, for the residents of the production, living water to provide a convenient, create a kind of "raccoon Kap did not prevent the creek is far away, in front of the door with a spring," a good environment.

The South Lake is located in the south of Hongcun, which was built during the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty (1607 AD), and is an artificial lake covering an area of 20,000 square meters. The lake is a large "bow" shape, the back of the bow lake embankment is divided into upper and lower two layers, the upper layer is about several feet wide, with slate, pebble pavement, the lower layer of planted willows; bowstring part of the South Lake School, Qing Yu Wei House and the ancient houses lined up.

Moon Marsh building has a testable history of five or six hundred years. Originally, there was a living spring here, which gushed in all seasons, and now people can see the ducks playing in the pond, the breeze in the air, and the smoke from the cooking.

Biyuan water house in Hongcun near the head of the water canals, was built in the late Ming Dynasty, was destroyed, rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty Daoguang fifteen years (1825 AD), covers an area of 278 square meters, building area of 256 square meters, is the Hongcun Qing Dynasty courtyard water house one of the representative buildings.

Qishu Lake is located in the southeast of Hongcun. Walking along the dirt road at the entrance of Hongdong Village, the blue water meanders to the right, the color of the vegetation, after walking for half an hour, the water surface opens up, which is Qishu Lake, which is now part of the Dongfanghong Reservoir.

Hongcun Leshutang, also known as Zongjia Hall, is the Wang Ancestral Hall of Hongcun, located in the middle of the north side of the Moon Pond in the village, and the Moon Pond was built in the same period of the Ming Dynasty, Yongle, which has been a place for ancestor worship and celebration gatherings for the Wang Clan. Lexu Hall consists of three parts: the gatehouse, the hall and the ritual hall. Back into the main hall of the original building, the gate brick carving paste wall plaque carved unusually fine.

Mukeng is located in the mountains, only 5 kilometers from Hongcun, but all the mountain roads, the car can only drive 1.5 kilometers from the village. Mukeng is a sea of bamboo, so it is also called "Mukeng Bamboo Sea". Deep in the bamboo forest there is a residential area, the architectural style is very different from the general Huizhou style residential area.

If you go to Hongcun to see the water scenery, then go to Xidi is mainly to see the ancient buildings, especially the ancient houses on the Huizhou three carvings on the pattern of branches so fine that it seems as if just a pinch will be broken.

●Xidi

Xidi Village, Yixian County, Huangshan City, Anhui Province, Xidi Town, the ancient village existed from the Northern Song Dynasty, because of the village side of the water flowing west, but also because of the ancient mail delivery post, so named "Xidi". Xidi is surrounded by mountains on all sides, two streams from the north and east of the village through the village in the south of the village will be the source of the bridge convergence, known as the "Peach Blossom Garden in the family".

The village has a longitudinal street and two roads along the streams as the main skeleton, constituting a system of streets and alleys that extends from the east to the north and from the east to the south. All the streets and lanes are paved with Yixian bluestone, and most of the ancient buildings are maintained by wooden structures and brick walls, with colorful wood, stone and brick carvings, and a coordinated layout of the design of the lanes and buildings. The village space changes flexibly, and the architectural color tone is simple and light, which is a typical representative of Chinese Huizhou architectural art.

There are 124 Ming and Qing Dynasty ancient houses and 3 ancestral halls in Xidi Ancient Village, and the roads and water systems are all maintained in their original state, while the main street, the horizontal street, and more than 40 alleys and lanes, as well as the unique green stone roads are all preserved, making Xidi a model of Huizhou ancient villages.

Ming and qing dynasty ancient houses, most of the three and four pattern of brick and wood structure building, horse head wall, small green tiles, and "the layout of the work, the structure of the skillful decoration of the beauty of the creation of the fine, the depth of the cultural connotation," are rare in the country, by tourists, scholars known as the "world's most beautiful villages! ""The treasure trove of ancient residential architecture".

Hu Wenguang pagoda commonly known as Xidi pagoda. Built in the Ming Wanli six years (1578 AD), more than 400 years of history, the entire pagoda up and down with the typical characteristics of the Huizhou school of relief carving, relief carving, round carving and other crafts decorated with a variety of diagrams, and each pattern contains a very profound meaning. HuWenGuangPaiFang modeling solemn, elegant, stone carving technology is outstanding, can be called the Ming dynasty emblem of the stone workshop.

The Hall of Respect and Love is located on the east bank of Qianbian Creek, which is a typical Huizhou brick and wood structure with an area of 1,800 square meters, and is also the largest existing ancestral hall in Xidi Village. In front of the door of the Hall of Respect and Love, flying eaves and corners, magnificent. The hall is divided into upper and lower courtyards, with a large patio in the center. The hall is a place for worshiping ancestors, educating future generations, uniting clans and holding various religious activities. It was restored in 1992 and is now used as "Xidi Folklore Exhibition Hall".

Chasing Mu Hall is located in the street above the street, built in the Qing dynasty Qianlong Jinyin year (A.D. 1794), used to memorialize the Hu ancestors, so that future generations do not forget the origin of Li Hu. Chasing after the Hall roof for the flying eaves and corners, eight-type doorway, the eaves of the Saintyear outside the door with a wooden fence, eight walls with a block of polished smooth Yixian marble made of a unique style, extremely beautiful and spectacular.