In Baiji Township, Xiuning County, Anhui, along the Tianlu Road in Huizhou, in the Baiji Mountain in the lingering line of Tianmu Mountain, there is an ancient village called Yanchi Village. The village is located on the top of Yanchi Mountain at 780 meters and is the highest village in Xiuning County. When I came to Baiji Township by car, I saw a picture of golden terraces between the clouds and mist, and the fairyland-like beauty suddenly raised my interest, so I drove a special trip to visit. Driving along the highway, when you reach Yanchi Village, there are big-word instructions on the side of the road. The car parked at the viewing platform, got off the car and walked into the fork road, walked up the hillside opposite the viewing platform, walked through the path between the bamboo forests and walked into the village.
Many of the residential houses here use clay mud embryos to build the exterior walls, which are tan, and are integrated with the surrounding mountains and land. They are very different from the Huizhou architectural style of the nearby blue tiles and white walls. They are indeed authentic local features. The interior of the houses is made of wood. The structure, it is said that such a house is more sturdy, and has the benefits of being warm in winter and cool in summer. Wang is the most common surname in the village, and it is said that he has lived here for more than ninety generations. Due to the high mountains and long roads, the village maintains its original appearance. It doesn’t seem to be advancing with the times, but there is a feeling of “delay” with the times.
According to locals, Yanchi Village was originally called “Delay Village”. There is a story behind this name:
Hundreds of years ago, the people in the village lived the simple life of men ploughing and women weaving, day after day, year after year, forming a culture of hard work, relying on the hands of industrious hands to develop in the mountains. Fields, digging ponds, building houses, and building homes. Due to the barriers of high mountains and inconvenient travel, villagers rarely go out and are almost isolated from the rest of the world.
One year during the Chinese New Year, a villager traveled across the mountains and ridges to the Chun’an County to buy things. On the street, he saw people wearing new clothes, and every household put up Spring Festival couplets with lanterns and festoons. It was only after inquiring that this day was the first day of the new year. Back in the village, everyone remembered when they heard his story. They were so busy working every day that they missed the important day of Chinese New Year. When the village chief learned about it, he calmly said, “They celebrate the New Year today and we celebrate the New Year tomorrow. What if we delay it by one day?” As a result, the name “Delayed Village” was passed on to ten, ten after all. Until the 1950s, the name was changed to “Yanchi Village” because it was inconsistent with the spirit of the times.
In ancient times, Yanchi Village was once the place where the “Ancient Huikai Road” passed and was an important commercial road at that time. There are ancient trees in the village, many of which are more than a thousand years old. Among them is a yew tree that is more than 1,300 years old and can be called the king of ancient trees in Xiuning County. The ancient branches are luxuriant, and the roots are intertwined, and the root system has stretched through the stone cracks into the ancient well more than ten meters away.
Passing through the village and passing the pond, the hillside is a patchwork of terraced fields. The ridges are built with stones, one by one, layer by layer along the mountain. It is quite spectacular to overlook from a height, so it is also known as the “Longji Terraces” in southern Anhui.
A viewing platform was built in the village with the best view. Every spring when the rape blossoms bloom, this place attracts a large number of photography enthusiasts to come to collect the scenery. The spear and cannon formation is quite spectacular. The village is not only full of tourists, but also a lot of tents are set up on the school playground. When we came, there were very few tourists to catch up with the rainy days, the distant mountains were hazy, and the rape fields lacked the rendering of sunlight, but they couldn’t hide the magnificent beauty.
Today’s Yanchi Village has become an important stop in the golden route of self-driving tours in Anhui-Huizhou Tianlu. Many self-driving enthusiasts, outdoor teams and travelers come here to experience the original ecology in this ancient village deep in the mountains. The beauty of life and harmony between man and nature.
When you arrive at Yanchi, you might as well postpone it, don’t panic, don’t hurry, and experience the slow rural life for a few days.
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