Beijing village tour is an interesting eye-opener for first time visitors coming to Beijing. Diaowocun, or Diaowo Village is considered as one of the 10 most beautiful villages in Beijing. It is located in the Huangsongyu valley of Huangsongyu Town in northeast Pinggu District, Beijing. Diaowo Village is well known for its ancient folk culture and beautiful scenery, a combination of the old and modern.
“Diaowo” literally means “the eagle’s nest”, named after a huge eagle that used to nest in a cave of the nearby mountain, hovering in the air above the village. Diaowo Village is surrounded by the mountains on its three sides as well as the west side of the waters – the Huangsongyu Reservoir. Diaowocun has 54 households with over 100 villagers.
Many of the local villagers are engaged in Countryside Tourism offering home made food and homestay to the mid-class urban residents, who drive here, especially on weekends, to escape the busy downtown life of Beijing. It is worth mentioning the local flavor – Whole Roasted Lambs, grilled by the wood of fruit trees, crisp outside and tender inside, which the urban holidaymakers won’t miss on their unwinding trip to Diaowo Village.
Some villagers still carry on the traditional fruit growing by planting such fruits as persimmon,hawthorn, chestnut,walnut and wild kiwi on the surrounding mountains.
Diaowo Village is also well known for its natural beauty such as Shilin Gorge (Stone Forest Gorge). Stone Forest Gorge covers an area of 12 square kilometers, the scenic area has many steep peaks standing upright with bizzar stone and rock formations. Diaowocun is also close to many scenic spots like Jingdong Grand Canyon and Jinhai Lake.
The beautiful scenery, its hospitable people, attract many artists to stay and live here. Now there are seven art studios in the village.
Back to 30 years ago, people would more like to live in an urban city than a rural countryside like Diaowo Village. Now great change has taken place in the countryside around Beijing mainly due to the huge efforts made by the local governments at all levels to develop the backwater areas of Beijing.
The mountains have become greener and the waters cleaner as a result of the environment protection policy introduced and stressed: Random cutting down of rooted trees is inhibited; converting arable land back to a pastoral use with financial support from the governments.
Each household is encouraged to promote rural tourism in providing homestay and homemade food with warm hospitality to the vacationers. The past 30 years have seen the rural villagers getting richer and richer in the countryside around Beijing.
A bunch of years ago Lady Lee retired and left the busy downtown Beijing and relocated to her husband birthplace – Diaowo Village for spending their retirement life.
Now she eats the vegetables she plants in her front yard, the geese & chickens in her back yard and fruits on the hill, enjoying living a beautiful, healthy & organic lifestyle. Her only son now works in the city proper of Beijing and comes to join them on weekends.
Let’s enter Diaowo Village and Lady Lee’s family
Driving alongside Huangsongyu reservoir, you soon enter the picturesque Diaowo Village in Pinggu District of Beijing.
This is a provincial road passing by Diaowo Village, which is also the only main street in the village nestled in a valley. The road (the main street for the village) is teeming with small storefront shops and eateries It turns alive with holidaymakers at nightfall. The road leads to Bolitai Village and further to Chengde in Hebei Province.
Lady Lee’s courtyard home is quietly perched in a back lane below the south hill of the village.
Lady Lee is waiting for us below the hawthorn trees by her courtyard gate wearing a yellow apron.
Now we are inside the courtyard and looking at the gate with her bungalow house at our back. Between the entrance gate and the house is a vegetable garden with two separated plots lined on both sides of the walkway leading from the gate to the house.
Seasonal Vegetables are planted on the two plots. The scenario is often like this: pick the vegetable and have it cooked, a few minutes later, a dish of fried vegetable on a table with vegetable’s soul still on it, fresh!
Lady Lee’s home courtyard has two separated yards – the front yard of the vegetables garden and the back yard of raising geese and chickens. Between the two yards is Lady Lee’s bungalow house with four rooms – kitchen room, drawing-room, bedroom for Lady Lee and her husband and the bedroom for her son and daughter in law.
Lady Lee is taking care of her green vegetables grown in the front yard. Her back yard is a place for raising geese and chickens, organic poultry with organic eggs.
Lady Lee’s family contracts over 20 persimmon trees and 20 hawthorn trees on a hill not from their courtyard home.
Lao Hao, Lady Lee’s husband, is coming back from their contracted field of persimmon trees and hawthorn trees.
Growing vegetables, raising geese and chickens and cooking home food are the routine Lady Lee follows in her retirement life at Diaowo Village. She is quite good at cooking.
In her leisure time, she has a pastime of hand weaving. She uses nylon threads to design and make various kinds of animals and flowers – birds, golden fish, butterflies, shrimps, flowers and the list could be longer, kinda of ornaments on the clothes and just used as pendants or whatever.
She uses nylon threads to design and make various kinds of animals and flowers.
The best time to visit Diaowo Village falls on spring and autumn. In spring, the world’s largest peach orchard in Pinggu brings you back to a stunning sea of peach flowers. In autumn, its nearby attraction of Jinhai Lake presents you a beautiful sightseeing driving road alongside the lake and the mountains.
In spring, the world’s largest peach orchard in Pinggu brings you back to a stunning sea of peach flowers. Check out The Best Place to View Peach Flowers in Beijing for more information.
In autumn, its nearby attraction of Jinhai Lake presents you a beautiful sightseeing driving road alongside the lake and the mountains.
More Attractions in Pinggu, Beijing
The Best Place to View Peach Flowers in Beijing
1) Flying Dragon Valley
2) Bolitai Great Wall
3) Jinhai Lake
4) Pinggu Glass Sightseeing Platform
5) Jingdong Karst Cave
6) Huangsongyu Reservior
7) Diaowo Village
Hassle-Free Private Tour to Pinggu
If you don’t want go the daunting do-it-yourself-route and prefer an organized hassle-free private tour to visit the glass sightseeing platform, no worry and we have the following options:
Beijing Family Visit Springtime Day Tour
Beijing Family Visit Summer Day Tour
Beijing Family Visit Autumn Day Tour
Further Readings
Top 10 Attractions in Beijing
How to Visit Forbidden City
How to Visit Temple of Heaven
How to Visit Summer Palace
How to Visit Ming Tombs
How to Visit the Great Wall of China
How to Visit Tiananmen Square
How to Visit Hutongs
How to Visit Olympic Sites
Top 10 Markets in Beijing
Top 10 Shopping Malls in Beijing
Beijing Shopping
Wangfujing Night Snack Street
Qianmen Commercial Street
Beijing Huguosi Street
Any questions, just drop a line.