Repair the old weir as old as the book. (photo by Yu Jianwen)
Last weekend, Fenghua Dayan welcomed the first batch of study tour students and homestay tourists this summer. The flowing water of the Daxi River is gurgling, blowing away the hot air of the hot summer. Tourists walk into the mottled mountains and villages, and feel the vicissitudes of time among the ancient houses and the ancient trees in the Dianchi Lake, as if entering a “time tunnel” …
Dayan Town, located in the remaining vein of Tiantai Mountain, is the only mountain town in Fenghua, and its thousand-year development history has left many human imprints. At present, there are more than 150 ancient dwellings, ancient bridges, ancient roads and ancient ancestral halls with historical and conservation value in the town, including 2 provincial cultural heritage sites, 11 district cultural heritage sites, 15 historical conservation buildings, 2 national traditional villages, 1 provincial historical and cultural village and 4 municipal historical and cultural villages.
“These ancient villages and ancient houses are engraved with the history of the mountain villages and are precious wealth left by our ancestors.” The relevant person in charge of the Dayan Town Government said that in recent years, in combination with the beautiful construction of the whole region, Dayan Town adhered to the concept of parallel protection and development of ancient buildings, activated historical functions, tapped the use value of ancient buildings, and invested a total of more than 35 million yuan to restore and repair more than 30 ancient houses such as the ancient weir site and the Lion Gate, so that the “old houses” can be alive and the “homesickness” can be reached at your fingertips.
The lion’s gate, the Shangshudi in the lower street of Dayan Village, is the former residence of Wang Yi, a court official in the Ming Dynasty. The gate house with a width of more than 7 meters and a height of 6.60 meters is exquisitely carved and has an extraordinary momentum. It has a history of more than 500 years. Villagers nearby said that due to years of erosion, the old houses on both sides of the gatehouse were worn out, and many wooden components were rotted and moth-eaten to varying degrees. Last year, the town sent a professional team to carry out the “fine repair” project of the ancient house, and retained the original components such as carved beams and hollowed-out decorative buckets to revitalize the old house. In addition, the Bailong Gate of Dayan, which is not far away, has also been repaired, forming a characteristic landscape street along the stream with the old auditorium and the old house. The “new use of the old house” has spawned bars, homestays, farmhouses and other formats.
The government-led, enterprise-involved, villagers’ autonomy and other multi-protection modes are adopted. By renovating the old as the old, the historical and cultural relics such as ancient houses and ancestral halls are preserved, and the rural tourism is promoted by connecting dots and lines. The relevant person in charge of Dayan Town said that on the basis of repair and maintenance, Dayan actively explored the “living” protection mode of ancient buildings and upgraded the infrastructure of ancient houses to meet the needs of modern society, improve the quality of life of local people and boost the development of rural cultural tourism industry.
Xiejieshan village has many ancient buildings in the late Qing Dynasty, which is called “the specimen of the ancient mountain village in eastern Zhejiang”. The village’s Shangdaiwu Dachangmen was built during the reign of Qing Qianlong, with a history of more than 200 years. Now it has been converted into a boutique homestay “Yanlai Shantian”. Shen Jiaorong, the manager in charge of the operation of the hotel, said that the renovation of the hotel kept the original shape of the ancient gate as much as possible, and the structural layout and main beams and columns remained unchanged, only optimized and strengthened, and ventilation, sound insulation and other facilities were added, and mountain springs and flowing water were introduced for landscaping to increase living comfort. Walking into the “Yanlai Mountain Field”, rammed earth walls, carved stone windows, double-eaves style columns and other old objects retain the taste of the years and are very popular among city people. “There are only 11 rooms in the B&B. Since June, every weekend is full.” Shen Jiaorong said that the second phase of the project is now ready to be implemented, and a vegetable garden has been opened to let guests feel homesickness and the joy of farming.
The “Miss Song’s Farewell Courtyard”, which is not far from “Yanlai Shantian”, has transformed the rural auditorium half a century ago into a comprehensive exhibition place for rural culture. The old objects from decades ago are placed in the window, accompanied by Feng Zikai-style paintings, which fully shows the rural wine-making process and has a unique flavor. In the Wudongqiao Scenic Area of Hubianqiao Village, the ancient Zhou Ancestral Hall has been repaired and maintained, and it has become a Lianshan Cultural Folk Museum, which has been turned into a comprehensive tourist place integrating intangible cultural heritage, rural sages and agricultural and sideline products exhibition. On summer nights, villagers and tourists walk into the old ancestral temple, sit in bamboo chairs, enjoy themselves while watching operas, and chat at home, making the scenic spot more vivid.
The relevant person in charge of Daxie Town said that in the next step, Daxie will use the historical charm and unique geographical environment advantages of the ancient village to integrate the protection of traditional buildings with global tourism to create an “old street on the cloud”. The project will renovate and upgrade more than 40 houses near Daxi Covered Bridge, with a total construction area of more than 1,400 square meters, and will attract a variety of formats to restore nostalgic memories and traditional skills with characteristic old streets.
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