Inside a Huizhou 徽州 House

Even though it is a fully functioning village, there is an entrance fee for tourists who want to visit Xidi 西递. I remember visiting a similar village called Dehang 德夯 in Hunan province and it also needed an entrance fee. I wonder how they distinguish residents from visitors. Xidi is known for it Hu 胡 clansmen and they are known to be skilled merchants who grew great wealth. The town is like a living museum as most of the people are still going about their own business. There will always be the inevitable tout but most of them are used to the tourists.

Some of the homes are actually open to visitors which means you can just walk in a explore their homes. I felt little uneasy walking in uninvited to someone’s house but it seems to be the norm here. One of the Huizhou Houses I visited illustrated the designs of a typical Huizhou house. The interiors of the house are made of wood. They even have second floors here. In the hosue I visited, there were a lot of antique stuff on display which made me wonder why they were. The interiors of the house were supposedly Ming dynasty era according to the lady who greeted us. That is pretty old, and the house is still in excellent shape. The house uses a lot of natural lighting through the use of light wells. The more I explore Xidi, the more I am fascinated by it.

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