Guilin Ancient Towns and Villages
There are over ten ancient towns and villages in Guilin, most of them are Ming or Qing dynasty style architecture, around 500 years of history. Now, these ancient towns and villages are disappearing, more and more houses are destroyed, replaced by modern buildings. Only few elders live there, their sons and grandsons moved to the city. Maybe 20 years later, when they died, the ancient towns and villages will be gone. Get to know how they survive in the past and now, come early before it's gone.
Daxu Ancient Town (Guilin)
Daxu is an ancient town over 2000 years old. It is on the side of the Li River, and only half an hour drive from Guilin. Though a quaint, off the beaten path village, Daxu offers many interesting sites to be explored. From ancient temples to stone streets to a historic market, Daxu is a nice place for history and antiquities lovers.
The highlights of the town:
- It is very close to Guilin and just aside of the Li River.
- It is free and less tourists, you can explore it by your way.
- You get oppotunity to go inside some locals' houses, listen to the history and appreciate the traditional Chinese life.
Good to photograph:
Langzi Ancient Village (Yangshuo)
Langzi village is about 20 km from Yangshuo. This is another typical ancient village full of very well-preserved Ming Dynasty buildings. The old quarter occupies more than 12000 square meters and includes a gun batteries.
The main attraction in the village is the Rui Zhi family hall, which boasts many different kinds of wood carving and fineness characters on the wall and ceiling. Many of the beams are carved and painted with many lifelike pictures. It has long been famous as a "unique old building."
Because very few tourists know this village, the local traditional culture and history have been preserved here much better than in the more frequently visited areas. The landscape on the way is fantastic, and the village is highly representative of southern China's old architecture.
Good to photograph:
Xingping Ancient Town (Yangshuo)
Xingping is a small and old town with more than 1,300 years of history. It is located on the east bank of the Li River, 30km away from Yangshuo. This town is divided into two parts: one is the new street, the other one is the old street with Ming Dynasty buildings dating from more than 500 years ago.
Xingping is well known for its fantastic landscape. The trip from Yangshuo to Xingping is also the most beautiful section of the Li River. You can take a boat or a hiking tour to enjoy this magnificent scenery and experience local people's life.
The town becomes more and more popular because it is the terminal of the Li River bamboo rafting. I recommend this town not because its history and culture, it is the unique place to photograph the cormorant fisherman with sunset and the background picture of Chinese 20 yuan note.
Good to photograph:
Jiuxian Ancient Village (Yangshuo)
Jiuxian is a typical ancient village located around 10 km from Yangshuo. Jiuxian was formerly the Yangshuo county seat. It was built in the Tang Dynasty and has 1400 years of history. This village not only preserves Ming and Qing period architecture but also retains many old cultural traditions.
There are several paths you can take by bike or car from Yangshuo through Jiuxian to Dragon Bridge, stopping there to enjoy a local meal and soak up the colorful culture and history. It's a great place to visit!
The highlights of the place, because of a boutique hotel - Serect Garden, which run by a architect Ian from south african. It is a unique accommodation in restored Qing Dynasty buildings, worth to see and stay.
Good to photograph:
Huangyao Ancient Town (Huangyao)
Huangyao Ancient Town is located in the northeast of Zhaoping County, Hezhou City, about 200 kilometers from Guilin. It has a history of more than 1,000 years. It emerged during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), was built up during the Wanli Period (1573-1619) of the Ming Dynasty, and prospered during the reign of the Qing emperor Qianlong (1735-1796). The Huang and Yao families dominate the town, so it is named Huangyao Town.
Covering an area of 3.6 square km, the town's architecture is in the southern style displaying a beautiful, simple pattern of blue bricks and blue tiles. The layout of the town is an array of the "nine-palaces and eight-diagrams."
This town is famous for its own karst mountains, bridges, temples, ancestor halls, and pavilions.
More than 30 temples, ancestor halls, and pavilions are well preserved. The town also boasts numerous Chinese cultural relics that enrich the history of the town, including the calligraphy of Hangyu, great scholar of the Ming Daynasty, Hexiangning and Gao shiqi's residential houses and many other inscribed boards, couplets and steles.
Good to photograph:
Fishing Village (Xingping)
This ancient village is located on the south of Xingping, with a long history more than 1400 years. This old village is a great place to go and see the way that local people used to live their lives before their town became world famous. So far, there are 48 well preserved traditional courtyards with their gables, towers and unique architectural features. You can see all that Yangshuo used to be. Grandparents taking care of the kids, mothers washing in the river and fathers maintaining the town or working in the fields. You feel like you have actually stepped back about 100 years in time.
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