Photo taken on Dec. 8, 2016 shows the autumn scenery in the ancient village of Huangling in Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province. (Photo/Xinhua)
A few days' stay in the ancient village of Huangling in Wuyuan county, East China's Jiangxi Province, can feel surreal, as life in the village remains almost the same as it was more than a century ago.
Sitting atop terraced mountains that separate it from the outside world, the village can only be reached by cable car for visitors.
In spring, seas of rape flowers blossoming at the foot of the mountain and nearby terraced fields attract visitors from across the world and makes it one of the must-see villages in China.
In the autumn, villagers take part in shaiqiu, or "drying crops in autumn," during which time crops such as corn, red chili and chrysanthemum flowers are dried in bamboo baskets outside their homes for winter preservation. This tradition has now become a symbol of local culture and is a highlight of local tourism.
Dating back 580 years to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the village was practically in ruins early this century. In order to bring the ancient village back to life and lift the villagers out of poverty, the local government introduced private investment to develop tourism in the area in 2009.
A surreal world
Villagers in Huangling, young and old, probably never imagined that they could bring in money by simply presenting their unique way of life to visitors.
Walking around the village in late autumn, visitors are immersed in the beautiful music of bamboo pipes, a reflection of the casual and simple life of local villagers.
The 50-something piper, who also runs a wine shop, shone with pride when introducing his homemade wines made from flowers and grains.
This included one traditional wine called nü'erhong, (lit: daughter red). A wine only presented at weddings by the bride's family, it was made and bottled on the day she was born, a tradition that has been preserved in South China since ancient times. The wine is first served to the bride's husband, then her mother-in-law and father-in-law as part of a toast for prosperity and health for the new family.
The wine shop sits on a street dedicated to presenting local culture and selling cultural products. A middle-aged craftsman who makes bamboo containers, an item used by many local families but now on sale for visitors, said he likes what the village looks like now - revitalized, but still holding onto its original flavor.
"It feels unreal when I see the changes to this previously shabby village, but the most exciting thing is to see the traditional customs that from when I was young being reintroduced here," said a 33-year-old villager surnamed Zhang on December 2.
Earlier this year, Zhang quit her well-paying job in East China's Fujian Province to return home to Huangling to be a tour guide.
More than 100 local villagers have been hired by the Wuyuan Folk Culture Development Company, a developer and investor in the village. The company spends around 40,000 yuan ($5,800) a day employing local craftsmen to work in the renovated village, according to a report from the Xinhua News Agency.
The company has done much to develop the village. It has renovated 80 percent of the houses in the village that were not being used and pays each household around 2,500 yuan annually to use these renovated buildings as stores, restaurants and hotels, which also employ many locals, according to Xinhua.
The average per capita income in Huangling rose from 3,500 yuan to 26,000 yuan a year after the development project, according to a 2015 study from the Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics.
Staying local
The local culture on display in Huangling has enabled it to also attract an increasing number of overseas visitors, mainly from Japan, South Korea, the US and European countries.
"Huangling is an amazing location! It reminds me of the Italian village style. I feel a sense of calm and happiness among the narrow streets here," Vasilisa Lukashevich, a visitor from Russia, told the Global Times on December 2.
"I love the sound of the creeks. I enjoy the views, the smells, the clear air and the history," she noted.
Vasilisa wasn't the only foreign visitor impressed by the village. Emre Demir, a Turkish visitor and author of the Turkish book The World Under The Heaven: 5 years and 10 cities in China, said Huangling reminded him of his hometown in the Black Sea region north of Turkey, where villages are also settled among the mountains.
"When I visited Huangling, I enjoyed the beautiful scenery, local customs, and took a lot of pictures like the other tourists. But on the other hand, I worry about the future and continuity of the local village culture because of increasing commercialization," he said.
Wu Xiangyang, head of the Wuyuan Folk Culture Development Company, said at a press conference in late November that the goal in developing villages is to preserve and protect them. He also emphasized that the best way for these villages to go global is for them to "stay local."
The village has long been a popular destination for foreign and domestic visitors to experience traditional rural lifestyles and scenery. Apart from the sea of rape flowers, Huangling is also famous for its Anhui-style buildings which feature black roof tiles, white walls and picturesque terraces.
