XiDi was renowned as World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000. (西递), originally named XiChuan, is also referred to as XiXi (West Rivulet) because there are three rivulets flowing westward in the village. It was changed into the present name XiDi (literally means West Transfer) because it is located in the west of ancient Hui Prefecture where there used to be a post station.
The village dates back over 960 years ago in the era of HuangYou of Northern Song Dynasty. It is a boat-shaped village covering an area of 16 hectares. Surrounded by a range of mountains, it boasts beautiful landscapes. The village still has over 300 ancient houses of Ming and Qing Dynasties, of which 124 are fairly intact. Thus winning the epithet “a Utopian Land”.
The rise of the village was closely tied to the fortunes of the Hu family, who adopted a son of the Tang Emperor Zhaozong after the Emperor was forced from his throne in 904.
The population began to rise sharply from 1465, when the Hu family had started in business as merchants, leading to construction of major private buildings and a public infrastructure. The prosperity of XiDi peaked in the 18th and 19th centuries, at which time the village comprised about 600 residences.
This man has been living here since his father’s generation. According to him, his late father was a great bamboo-carver too. He had learnt the skill since very small and took over the business after his father pass away.
Some of them are paintings…I was pretty impressed of one of his father’s work pieces, so I bought it home with RMB 200. Later then we found out it doesn’t suit our house that much, so we gave it to a buddhist friend instead.
Judging from the outlook of this residence, it must have its glorious time in the past. Now a days, the house is opened to the tourists. My brother and I paid RMB 3 pax, and we can enter and visit the house with no time limit.
Looking down from the window, the design of each residence is quite unique. According to our tour lady, XiDi is the best preserved and most authentic, and also one of the smallest. It is not so crowded with shops and tour groups that we can just relax and wander some the back streets, tuning in to the rhythms of village life.
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