Two villages in the hills of southern Anhui — Hongcun and Xidi — were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000 as a single site, and they now sit at the center of one of China's most closely watched rural experiments: turning a protected village into a place where travelers sleep and eat for several days, without turning it into a museum. The numbers are concrete. Yi County, which contains both villages, counted 1,070 licensed homestays in 2024 — roughly a third of all homestays in Huangshan — and those properties took in about 2.28 million overnight guests and close to 2.1 billion yuan in direct revenue, according to figures published by the Huangshan municipal government. Hongcun received 4.1 million visitors in 2024 and Xidi 3.3 million, in a case study released by China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
What makes the model unusual is where the money goes and who does the hosting. A fifth of ticket revenue is channelled into a conservation fund, and most of the people running the guesthouses are the families who already own the houses.
The Listing, and Why It Was Unusual
Xidi and Hongcun entered the World Heritage List on 2 December 2000 under reference 1002, assessed against criteria (iii), (iv) and (v): a type of settlement created by a trading economy, a street pattern that still records the social structure of a long-settled period, and traditional non-urban China preserved exceptionally well. The property itself is small — 52 hectares, wrapped in a 730-hectare buffer zone in Yi County, Huangshan City.
Size is the point. These are working villages of a few hundred households, not excavated ruins, and UNESCO's own assessment notes that their value rests on street plans, decoration and, above all, the integration of houses with complete water systems. The listing also made them the first rural settlements in China to be recognised in this way, which is why the county's conservation rules became a template for villages elsewhere.
Reading a Huizhou House
The buildings are the product of a specific social engine. Huizhou men left as merchants and officials, and the ones who came home wealthy built with stone, brick and carved wood. Three features tell you what you are looking at.
- Horse-head gables (matou qiang). The stepped, fire-wall parapets that rise above the roofline in stages. They are a firebreak first and a status marker second — the more steps, the grander the household.
- The sky well (tianjing). Every courtyard house opens to a small rectangular void. Rain falls into it and drains inward, a device known as "four waters return to the hall" — water as money, kept at home. It also supplies the only direct light most rooms get.
- The three carvings. Brick carving on doorways, wood carving on beams and brackets, stone carving on bases and archways. This is where Huizhou craftsmen spent their budget, and it is the detail worth slowing down for.
Windows on the outside walls are few and small; the wealth faces inward, into the courtyard. Walking the lanes, you see mostly white plaster, dark tile and doorways — which is exactly why the carved interiors feel like a reveal.
Hongcun: A Village Laid Out as an Ox
Hongcun was founded between 1190 and 1194, in the Southern Song, by the Wang clan, and its layout is the reason photographers come. The village was planned as an ox: Leigang hill at one end is the head, two ancient trees are the horns, a network of stone-lined channels through the lanes is the intestines, the Moon Pond at the center is the stomach, and the South Lake at the southern edge is the belly, with four bridges as legs.
The water is not decorative. It carried fire-fighting supply to a village of timber and plaster, moderated summer heat, and gave every household washing water within a few steps — the practical logic that made dense wooden settlements survivable. Around 140 Ming- and Qing-dynasty houses survive here, according to documentation compiled for the World Heritage nomination. The South Lake, with its arched bridge and stone causeway, is the view on the postcards; the Moon Pond, half-moon shaped and ringed by the oldest houses, is the quieter one.
Xidi: A Boat-Shaped Village of Officials
Xidi is older and more formal. Founded in the Northern Song, roughly 950 years ago, it was the seat of the Hu clan and is laid out like a boat, built along and between three streams that converge at the Huiyuan Bridge to the south. The village keeps 124 Ming- and Qing-dynasty houses and three ancestral halls, and its entrance archway — a four-pillar, five-roofed stone pailou erected in 1578 — is the single most photographed structure in either village.
The difference between the two is worth knowing before you arrive. Hongcun is water and curves; Xidi is stone lanes, gatehouses and lineage halls, with the clan's hierarchy written into the plan. Ancestral halls were the family's court and archive, and several are still standing in their original positions.
From Ticket Gate to Guesthouse
The economics changed gradually, then quickly. China's national rural revitalisation strategy, introduced in 2018, directed investment into rural roads, utilities and tourism infrastructure — the plumbing that makes a village stayable. Yi County now reports 1,684 preserved traditional dwellings across 66 administrative villages, including 46 villages on the national traditional-village list and six designated historic and cultural villages.
On the accommodation side, the county has organised homestays into eight clusters and a trade association. Of the 1,070 licensed properties, three hold the top national rating and 126 carry the provincial "Wanmei" gold designation — both the highest counts in China and in Anhui respectively, per the municipal government. Conservation runs on a four-tier network of county, township, village and community oversight, with that 20 percent ticket levy funding restoration.
For a traveler this shows up as a specific kind of choice. You can sleep inside the heritage area in a converted merchant house, or outside it in a newer build a five-minute walk from the gate. Inside is atmospheric and cramped; outside is quieter and easier for luggage and children.
Tunxi Old Street: Where the Money Came From
The wealth that built those courtyards moved through Tunxi, the old commercial town at the confluence of three rivers about an hour from the villages. Tunxi Old Street runs 1,272 metres, with an 853-metre core of more than 300 Huizhou buildings in a fish-bone street pattern, and it dates to the Southern Song. It is a national key cultural relic site and one of China's historic and cultural streets — in the Ming and Qing it was the entrepôt where Huizhou merchants consolidated goods for the journey downriver.
It is still a shopping street, and a good one for the region's actual crafts: Hui ink sticks, She inkstones, and Anhui tea. Buy from workshops rather than souvenir stalls and the prices make sense.
Getting There, and Travelling Lightly
Huangshan North is on the Hangzhou–Huangshan high-speed line, which opened on 25 December 2018 across 265 kilometres at a design speed of 250 km/h. Fastest scheduled runs are 1 hour 26 minutes from Hangzhou East, 2 hours 26 minutes from Shanghai Hongqiao and 3 hours 24 minutes from Nanjing. From the station it is roughly an hour by road to either village.
- Stay a night. The day-trip crowd arrives between 9 and 11 a.m. and leaves by 4 p.m. The lanes at 7 a.m. belong to residents and to you.
- Go midweek if you can. Weekend volume inside a 52-hectare property is the one thing that genuinely spoils the experience.
- Pack for stone. Lanes are paved, uneven and often wet; wheeled cases are awkward. Many guesthouses send someone to meet the shuttle with a hand cart.
- Remember these are homes. Several courtyards marked as open are still private residences. Doorways with a threshold and a curtain usually mean someone lives there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I visit Hongcun or Xidi?
Both, and in that order if you only have a day. Hongcun delivers the water-and-reflection landscape; Xidi delivers the architecture, the archway and the ancestral halls. They are about 20 minutes apart by road and are covered by the same World Heritage listing.
Is staying inside the village worth it?
For one or two nights, yes — the early morning and the evening are the whole reason. Rooms in converted houses are small, floors are timbered and sound carries, and winter is damp; ask specifically about heating before you book.
How much time do I need?
Two nights gives you both villages at a humane pace plus Tunxi Old Street. One night is enough for Hongcun alone. Three nights starts to include the surrounding villages and the tea hills.
Is it accessible for older travelers or families?
The main lanes are flat and paved, but bridges are stepped and some courtyards have raised thresholds. Guesthouses outside the core are easier for anyone with mobility limits, and porters can be arranged.
When is the best season?
Late March to May and September to November. Summer is hot and crowded; winter is quiet, cold and often photographed for its mist, but some guesthouses close for maintenance in January.
Last updated: October 2026
