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World Cultural Heritage－Hongcun
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Transtlate Hongcun, located at the southwestern foot of the Yellow Mountain and 11 kilometers away from Yi County, is a peculiar ox-shaped ancient village in the peach blossom valley of the Yi county. It covers 30 hectares, and enjoys reputation of "picturesque Chinese village " because of the beautiful mountain and water.
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Moon pond |
In the Southern Song Dynasty, people in Hongcun applied bionics by creating the unique artificial water system. They did everything according to the shape of the ox, for instance, the winding dam is the "intestine" of the ox; the "Moon Pond" dug beside the mouth of the spring is its "stomach"; the "Southern Lake" is its "belly"; both sides of the "intestine" where villagers lived are its "body". The sceneries of the mountain and the lake are in perfect harmony with villlagers?houses; the natural scenes and cultural implications reflect upon each other, -- the very unique residence design in Hongcun, which distinguishes it from any other areas, makes it one of the wonders of the current World Historical and Cultural Heritage.
At present, there are over 140 well-preserved folk residences of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The Ideal-Upholding Hall, famous for its exquisite and gorgeous "Three Sculptures", was thus called the "Civil Forbidden City"; the Southern Lake sceneries, the Southern Lake Academy, the Spring Morning of the Moon Pond, the Ox Intestine Ditch, the Jade Reflections of the Two Springs, the Big Tree in front of the Pavilion, the Sunset in the Thunder Hillock, the Man-Cultivating Hall, and one ancestral temple of Ming Dynasty the Hearty Talk Hall etc. Around the village are the sights like the famous Pheasant Rock Woodcutting Building, Qishu Lake, the Autumnal Sceneryin Tachuan, the Bamboo Sea in Mukeng, the ancestral temple of Ming Dynasty in Wancun village the Love and Respect Hall.
The village was formally assessed as the World Cultural Heritage in the 24th Meeting of the World Heritage Committee on November 30th, 2000, and one of the key units for national cultural relics protection, plus the patriotic education base in Anhui Province in 2001. On December 30th, 2002, it joined the World Cultural Heritage Committee of the Association of Chinese Scenic Spots; in July, 2003, it was formally accessed as the state-list 4A scenic spot, and one of the first group of the famous historical and cultural villages in December, 2003.
Through the diligence of the ancestors and the protection from their offsprings, Hongcun Village has gained world-wide recognition. Efforts will still be made in protecting this precious heritage, developing and making use of its tourism resources, and enabling more and more people to know about it, and appreciating the profoundity in its culture.
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