Chinese Village Doubles as Living History Museum
Cuandixia Residents Turn to Tourism to Give Local Economy a Boost
Feb 25, 2009
Centuries ago, Cuandixia was a bustling community, with farmers sending their best goats and produce to feed the imperial family at the Forbidden City in Beijing. Today it’s a different story: It’s the people who have moved off to bustling Beijing.
In an effort to save their village, the remaining residents are opening their village to tourists who want a peak at the past. For a small admission fee, tourists are free to wander throughout this hillside village of homes that are 500 years old.
Tourist Improvements Made
This concept appears to be paying off. Recent improvements include new restroom facilities at the entrance and a paved parking lot for tour buses which are now beginning to show up. There’s even a small gift shop. Residents are turning their kitchens into restaurants for hungry tourists, and their bedrooms into accommodations for visitors who want to sample a longer slice of country life. Just a few short years ago, most Beijingers had never heard of Cuandixia.
The village is built on a hillside, with upper level homes reachable only by walking up uneven stone steps. Everything must be packed in by residents who use donkeys to tote up heavy, bulky items.
A Photographer's Paradise
The village is faintly reminiscent of Eze Village on the French Riviera. It is colorful, steep and stone. Looking up from the entrance gate, the massive stone retaining walls for the higher homes give the village a fortress-like appearance. Stern and forbidding. But the appearance can be misleading. Flower pots line the walkways and entrances to the stone and concrete homes, each with a small courtyard. Ears of corn hang drying from the rafters. Butterflies flit among the bright red hollyhocks growing up against a wall. Sayings of Chairman Mao Zedong, painted decades ago, can still be seen on some walls.
Cuandixia was once a day’s ride from Beijing, and was a post-stop through the mountains to Shanxi Province. The pass is but a short walk up the gravel road.
Today, visitors can travel the 90-kilometer distance from Beijing in three to four hours, depending on traffic. Cuandixia is located on the west edge of Beijing Municipality. The route goes from high-rise buildings to one-story businesses, through river vallleys which are ablaze with blossoms in the spring and an abundance of fruit stands in the fall.
Cuandixia is open daily, with an admission fee of 20 yuan (about US$3) per person. It is reachable by public and tour bus, but most convenient for tourists who hire a car and driver for the day.
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