Huangyau Old Village, Hezhou

A lot of tourist sites were made famous by deliberate promotional efforts of the government or the tourism authority. Some were however made famous by unintentional event or crisis. For example, many visitors now flocked to Fukushima, Japan to see the after effects of the March 2011 tsunami. On the way to catch the plane from Guilin to Guangzhou, we visited a place made famous by a Chinese TV drama series called "Plain Love"- 茶是故乡浓 or translated as "Tea in the Hometown is the Best". This is the Huangyao Old Village in Hezhou.

Huangyao Village could be traced back to nearly 1,000 years ago. It was first built in the Song Dynasty, refurbished in Wanli Period of Ming Dynasty, and boomed during Qianlong Period of Qing Dynasty. Owing to the fact that most people here were surnamed Huang and Yao, thus it was called Huangyao.

Huangyao lies at the lower reaches of Li River (Lijiang). It has long been called the “poetic land”. It abounds in limestone hills, streams, pavilions, ancestral temples and ancient trees.

All streets are inlaid with black stone slates. Most houses are 2-storey structures finished with tile roof. The building workmanship is exquisite and superb.

There are altogether more than 600 families in the village, spread over in eight streets. Most of their houses retain a Ming and Qing Dynasty style. The geographic location of Huangyao village is very special. Mountains surround the village on four sides, making the place easy to defend and difficult to invade. Transportation here is very inconvenient. As a result, the village remains half-isolated. That's why a lot of old houses and antiques are well preserved.

Our lady tour members went crazy when confronted with rows and rows of urns containing all kinds of pickles! As far as taofufah and guilinggao (turtle jelly), I feel our Malaysia's versions are still better.

Most houses here are now supplied with piped water. Many residents however still prefer to use the well water. Water in the trough nearest to the incoming source is for drinking, next is for washing of vege, rice and food stuff. Water closest to the outlet is for washing of clothes. Surprisingly, the water was warm, around 20 degrees C when the air temperature was 13 degrees C!

Picturesque scenery.