{"id":6189,"date":"2011-09-08T08:28:18","date_gmt":"2011-09-08T00:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tour-beijing.com\/blog\/?p=6189"},"modified":"2015-08-26T17:32:19","modified_gmt":"2015-08-26T09:32:19","slug":"how-to-visit-xiamei-village-in-wuyi-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tour-beijing.com\/blog\/fujian-travel\/wuyishan-travel\/how-to-visit-xiamei-village-in-wuyi-mountains","title":{"rendered":"How to Visit Xiamei Village in Wuyi Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

Plan your trip to Wuyi Mountains<\/a><\/strong><\/span>? A half day side trip to the ancient Xiamei Village is highly recommended. As an important part of the World Natural and Cultural Heritage Site in Mount Wuyi, Xiamei Village was\u00a0also\u00a0listed as one of China’s Famous Villages with Historical and Cultural Significance on September 16, 2005.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the reign of Xianping in Northern Song Dynasty (998AD), Xiamei Village became an administrative distrcit, a village\u00a0in Chong’an County.\u00a0In the later Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Xiamei Village had been developed into a tea marketing hub, a starting point of the Ancient Tea Road.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ancient Tea Road extended from northern Fujian to Moscow. In\u00a0Ming and Qing\u00a0dynasties,\u00a0many merchants coming from the Shanxi Province who\u00a0travelled here to\u00a0buy tea leaves here and transfer them to the north, finally reaching Europe.<\/p>\n

Today Xiamei Village\u00a0is well known for its vernacular Ming and Qing Dwellings featuring exquisite brick, stone\u00a0and wood carvings. A\u00a0900 meters long man made river winds cross the village from west to east,\u00a0making a landscape of water and village in southern China.<\/span><\/p>\n

Xiamei Village is located about 10km east of Mount Wuyi National Resort and 8km southeast of Wuyishan City. At the time of my writing, there are no shuttle buses connecting Xiamei Village to Wuyi Mountains National Resort or Wuyishan City. You may take a local taxi or minivan around RMB 30. You’d ask your taxi driver to wait for you on the return trip to your hotel since there is no public transport in the village.<\/span><\/p>\n

You need to pay RMB 60 to visit the village as kinda of fund to support the village. Most of the young people have left from\u00a0the village for bigger cities. We don’t know how long the ancient village can sustain. A Chinese speaking tour guide will be offered to show you around in case you are lost in the maze of the village.<\/span><\/p>\n

We are about to enter the Xiamei Village. The banner says you are welcome to Xiamei Village, a China’s Famous Villages with Historical and Cultural Significance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Welcome to Xiamei Village<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Welcome to Xiamei Village<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

We are in the village and on the way to the old part of the village starting with the the\u00a0Ancestor Bridge.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the\u00a0Ancestor Bridge\u00a0over the 900m river known as\u00a0the Dangxi River running through the village from west to east. It is now a two-story wooden structure with four upturned eaves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
This is the Ancestor Bridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

These\u00a0are the main ancient streets flanking the Dangxi River, the 900m river\u00a0running through\u00a0the village from west to east. By the river, the locals built long benches with wooden planks against the\u00a0railings which have\u00a0a beautiful name\u00a0-“Beauty’s Backrest”. On these benches, the villagers\u00a0have a\u00a0rest, chating and drinking in leisure time.<\/span><\/p>\n

The local villagers are playing cards. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
The local villagers are playing cards.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
A close look at the Dangxi River the streets<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
A close look at the Dangxi River the streets<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

This is the entrance to Zou’s Ancestral Temple, the largest and most\u00a0elegant\u00a0building in the village. In northern Fujian during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the Zou clan was known for its\u00a0wealth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most\u00a0of\u00a0the local merchants were from the Zou clan. Xiamei Village was a place of many tea markets, and each day three hundred rafts\u00a0transfered here to transport tea leaves to other places in northern China and Europe in the ancient time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
This is the entrance to Zou’s Ancestral Temple<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The exquisite brick carvings decorating the gate tower\u00a0is reminiscent of\u00a0visitors of the past glory.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
The exquisite brick carvings decorating the gate tower is reminiscent of visitors of the past glory.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The wood-carved figures\u00a0the front wall still guard the old courtyard’<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
The stone-carved figures the front wall still guard the old courtyard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Inside the\u00a0Zou’s Ancestral Temple. Enshrined in the temple are steles with inscriptions of family rules and temple annals. The main hall\u00a0is flanked\u00a0by\u00a0the side buildings. In the courtyard there is a small rainspout in the shape of ancient Chinese coin. <\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Inside the Zou’s Ancestral Temple<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This is the entrance to the second largest building in the village, a house of the eldest son of the Zou. Below are some picures taken from the building:<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Picture 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Picture 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Picture 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Picture 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Picture 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
This is the backyard, a gardening part of the house<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
This is the backyard, a gardening part of the house<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The oldest lane in the village with 2000 years history<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
The oldest lane in the village with 2000 years history<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This is the door which was used to shape a\u00a0girl\u00a0by the family of Zou in selecting a daugher in law<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
This is the door which was used to shape a girl by the family of Zou in selecting a daugher in law<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The Rock pillar stands by the village entrance inscribed with the words “The Starting Point of Ancient Tea Road”.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
The Rock pillar stands by the village entrance inscribed with the words “The Starting Point of Ancient Tea Road”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plan your trip to Wuyi Mountains? A half day side trip to the ancient Xiamei Village is highly recommended. As an important part of the World Natural and Cultural Heritage Site in Mount Wuyi, Xiamei Village was\u00a0also\u00a0listed as one of China’s Famous Villages with Historical and Cultural Significance on September 16, 2005. During the reign…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[1410,1409],"class_list":["post-6189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wuyishan-travel","tag-ancient-xiamei-village","tag-xiamei-village"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tour-beijing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6189"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tour-beijing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tour-beijing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tour-beijing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tour-beijing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6189"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.tour-beijing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18498,"href":"https:\/\/www.tour-beijing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6189\/revisions\/18498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tour-beijing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tour-beijing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tour-beijing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}