Hongcun, located at the southwestern foot of the Yellow Mountain and 11 kilometers away from Yi County, is a peculiar ox-shaped ancient village in the peach blossom valley of the ancient Yi County. Lying in the Thunder Hillock and facing the Southern Lake, it covers 30 hectares, and enjoys the good name of "Chinese village in picture" because of the beautiful mountain and water. The mountain is grassy because of the water, and the water is lively because of the mountain.
In the shaoxing Period of the Southern Song Dynasty, people in Hongcun took the initiative in applying bionics by creating the unique artificial water system for firefighting and irrigation. They did everything according to the shape of the ox the winding dam is the "intestine" of the ox; the "Moon Pond" dug beside the mouth of the spring is its "stomach"; the "Southern Lake" is its "belly"; the villagers lived in both sides of the "intestine" are its "body". The sceneries of the mountain and the lake are in perfect harmony with layers of houses; the natural scenes and cultural implications reflect upon each other, -- the very uniqueness of the residence design in Hongcun, which distinguishes it from that of any other areas, and makes it as one of the wonders of the current World Historical and Cultural Heritage.
Now there are more than 140 well-preserved folk residences of Ming and Qing Dynasties in Hongcun. The Ideal-Upholding Hall, famous for its exquisite and gorgeous "Three Sculptures" and thus called the "Civil Forbidden City"; the Southern Lake sceneries, the Southern Lake Academy, the Spring Morning of the Moon Pond, the Ox Intestine Ditch, the Jade Reflections of the Two Springs, the Big Tree in front of the Pavilion, the Sunset in the Thunder Hillock, the Man-Cultivating Hall, and one ancestral temple of Ming Dynasty the Hearty Talk Hall etc. Around Hongcun are the sights like the famous Pheasant Rock Woodcutting Building, Qishu Lake, the Autumnal Sceneryin Tachuan, the Bamboo Sea in Mukeng, the ancestral temple of Ming Dynasty in Wancun village the Love and Respect Hall.
Ideal-Upholding HallIdeal-Upholding Hall was built in the 5th year of the Xianfeng Period of Qing Dynasty (1885 A.D.). The whole building is of timberwork, with the gorgeously decorated inner bricks, stones and wood. A well-preserved big folk residence, the house consists of the inner and outer yards, the front and back halls, the eastern and western wing-rooms, the study, the fish-pond hall, the kitchen and the stall, etc., mountain-removing House, and Tunyun House (for having opium). There are also bedrooms for bodyguards and servants, too.
House of Dunmu
The House of Dunmu (Honesty and Harmony) was built in the Tongzhi Period of Qing Dynasty, about 130 years or so from now. The whole house is composed of two large rooms, with carved beams and gold-painted rafters in different colors. The host Wang Jingheng is the last disciple of the "rice molding", a famous local handicraft.
Zilusi Temple
Zilusi Temple is located at the turn of Zilingshan Mountain, 3 km to the southwest of Hongcun. Firstly built in A.D. 843, the temple was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. It is recorded that Lingyinsi Temple in Hangzhou of Song Dynasty was its very imitation. The terrain of the original Zilusi Temple fits for the Buddhist theory, according to Dignitary Shihuaishan, the Chinese abbot for Lumbini of Nepal, and associate Secretary in General of Chinese Buddhism Association. He said after his research on the spot that it was an ideal place for setting up a temple.
Admission fee: RMB 80/person
Opening hour: The whole day