In the foothills of the Huangshan Mountains in southern Anhui, two villages have preserved a way of building that Chinese artists have painted for 500 years: white walls, black-tiled roofs, and the distinctive "horse-head" gables (matou qiang) stepping up against the green hills. Hongcun and Xidi, inscribed together on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2000 as the "Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui," are the finest surviving examples of Huizhou architecture - and for travelers who love art, architecture and rural China, they are a destination unlike any other: a place where the village is the masterpiece, and sketching it is the natural response.
Hongcun: The Village Painted Like a Scroll
Hongcun is called "the village in a Chinese painting" - and walking into it, you understand why. The village is shaped deliberately like an ox: the hill behind is the head, the houses the body, and the extraordinary water system the intestines. Built in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Hongcun channels spring water through a network of open stone channels (shuijing) that run past every house - an ingenious gravity-fed "ancient water supply" that still runs today, bringing clean water to doorsteps and away from them again.
Two images define Hongcun in every photograph:
The grandest house is Chengzhi Hall (承志堂), nicknamed "the Forbidden City of the folk" - a merchant mansion with gilded carvings, a private opera stage and three courtyards, showing the wealth of the Huizhou merchants who built these villages.
Xidi: The Scholar's Village of Clan and Ritual
A short ride away, Xidi is the more formal, clan-organized cousin. Founded by the Hu family, it grew on the fortunes of merchants who invested in education and official rank. Its 200-year-old lane system leads past:
Where Hongcun is water and reflection, Xidi is stone and structure - together they show both halves of Huizhou life: merchant wealth and scholar discipline.
Why This Is a Study Destination
What Your Study Day Includes
A guided walk through both villages, a sketching or watercolor session at Moon Pond or South Lake (materials provided), a visit inside two or three houses with an explanation of carvings and clan life, and a local lunch of Huizhou cuisine — preserved ham, bamboo shoots, stinky mandarin fish if you dare.
Practical Notes
PandaStudyTour designs this as a one- or two-day art-and-architecture module, with sketching materials, local guides and optional painting instruction. Contact us to add the painted villages to your China journey.
