Another early start as I was off to another UNESCO World heritage Village today, the village of Xidi. I headed back to the bus station to get the 8 am bus. I was going to take the official bus today, as the minivans dont run to Xidi, but drop you on the main road, which is about a 3 km walk away from the village. Some bloke found out the hard way in the mini van the day before. The bus journey wasnt too long and it felt really quick. We were at Xidi before I knew it. The village seemed pretty quiet as there were only a couple of tour groups there that early. I headed to the ticket office and bought my ticket. It was 104 RMB, the same price as the ticket for Hongcun had been.
I headed through the entrance and made my way a few steps down to Ming Jing Lake. There was a pretty wooden boat in the water, it reminded me a little of the Marble Boat at the Summer Palace. Standing by the water I had a great view of the Hu Wenguang Memorial Archway. It was built during the reign of
the Ming Dynasty Hu Wenguang, a Ming officer and the provincial governor. I came across a hole in the wall style coffee shop, since it had been a bugger to find a coffee in Hongcun, I bought one immediately and headed to one of the benches across the square to drink it and people watch for a bit. It was still quiet so I got see what felt like the village waking up. People out of their homes and businesses and going about their day. Once my coffee was finished, I headed up one of the streets for a look around. I loved the early morning sun as it cast a little haze of the view and made it feel like sleepy village. I didnt find much on my walk up the street. There were some stalls and shops that were empty, but I bet would be full in the peal tourist season. There was some pretty artwork on the walls of some of the buildings. There were also quite a few art students about with their easels set up capturing the beautiful buildings.
and then wandered up another street. I was a little surprised to see lots of chickens/geese/ducks (Im not sure which) strung up outside of the shops, basking the late autumn sun. I presume that they had been preserved somehow. I was surprised as I hadnt seen any the previous day when in Hongcun, and wondered whether they were a local Xidi specialty. The streets were quieter than those of Hongcun as I walked around. The gorgeous Hui style buildings lined the streets. Included in the ticket was entrance to some of the villages ancient houses. The first one I came to was Kanggu Zhai. This house was built in 1662, during the reign of the Qing Dynastys Emperor Kangxi. The original owner of the house was a scholar, who became a successful businessman. I had a quick walk around, but I prefer looking at the exterior of these houses. I love all the red lanterns and banners with good luck messages that adorn the entranceways. The next part of my walk took me to Ruiyu Ting. This was also built during the Qing Dynasty, but about two hundred years later than the previous building during the reign of Emperor Xianfeng.
The courtyard was quite cute and filled with pots with plants in them. When I exited Ruiyi Ting, I got to see a monk doing what looked like some shopping off a local seller. It was nice sight to see.
My next stop was Taoli Yuan, which was built during the Qing Dynasty. The house had some beautifully carved interior walls and edgings. I wandered down more back alleys. Most were pretty quiet and I had a nose in the courtyards of the different buildings. I came to Xi Yuan, which was built during Daoguang of the Qing Dynastys reign. Hu Wenzhao was the original owner and he had been the magistrate of Kaifeng County. The courtyard was designed in the style of a Suzhou Garden. I loved the courtyard garden ad it was my favourite of the different places Id visited in Xidi. There was a lot of greenery and some beautiful red roses and berries in the garden. I also visited Dong Yuan, but it wasnt as impressive as Xi Yuan.
