Huangshan, Anhui Province, China - Xidi Village

Huangshan - Yellow Mountain

We have a few trips on our short list and this weekend we experienced one we will never forget. Huangshan - meaning Yellow Mountain - was pure scenery everywhere you looked. Even though we shared the mountain with a thousand other local guests, we still felt we were somewhere special.

Our trip actually started with an overnight stay in a 600 year old Ancient village, a World Heritage UNESCO site -  about an hour away from the base of the mountain in Xidi Village. Xidi is a traditional Chinese village with its own waterways, narrow alleys and ceremonial ancestral halls.

Xidi Village

We stayed in a traditional home called "Pig's Heaven Inn" and were pleasantly surprised to find our accommodations very simple and comfortable. The Inn was someone's home converted in to a small B&B Chinese style!

Entry Hall to Pig's Heaven

Pig's Heaven courtyard

Kitchen where our meals were cooked - delicious!

 We loved having this village to ourselves as we walked around and witnessed everyday life. These two women were getting water to use for the day. The barrels were so heavy and they happily walked down to the not so clean creek, filled up and headed home.

Neighbors chatting

Getting water for household use

We saw women washing clothes and shoes on the rocks of the stream, dipping in for drinking and household water and actually washing dishes and brushing teeth - all in the same water source.

The buildings were mostly cement block with no heat and bare minimum as far as furnishings. It is really hard to believe people still live like this. The carvings in the buildings were beautiful.

Wall carving

 When we asked about the leaf carving, we were told that this village is not a good place to be born in because at age 13 or 14 you are sent out into the world to earn a living. Maybe you follow an older sibling or someone you know, but your are on your own. The leaf is to symbolize the child coming home when they are older and established (can earn money). The leaf falls close to the root - the children returning to their parents.

"The leaf should fall close to the root"

They made their own tofu, dried chilies and soybeans and harvested a lot of leafy, green vegetables. And, of course - raised pigs. The morning we were walking around on our own we came across a small truck with a crowd gathered around. They were slaughtering an animal the size of a pig in the back and everyone was taking their chunk of meat home! Good thing we had already had breakfast!

Chilies drying in the sun

Drying Tofu (lots of flies hanging around)

Little girl coloring

 This was one of the main "streets" in the village. Students arrived daily to draw pictures of the ancient architectural style of the buildings.

Students drawing the Hui architecture of the buildings

We said good bye at the Inn and headed up to the mountain. We really loved seeing the local people  in Xidi and felt a great deal of compassion for the difficult life they live. This will stay with us for a long time.

xoxo, Kathy and Phil