The village is surrounded by mountains belonging to the Taihang Mountain Range. It is rather isolated, and has managed to preserve more than 70 houses, including 500 rooms, first built during the Ming or Qing dynasties (1368-1911).

The whole village, since most of the houses are old, looks very antique in style and exquisite in arrangement. It has been called "China's Pompeii". Pompeii was an ancient Italian city destroyed in AD 79 by eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.

The village first boomed in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) for producing rice, fur and coal. The products made local people rather rich, so they built big and exquisite houses.

When the Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1895, most of the village's men joined the army and dispersed around the country. At the end of the last century, many young people made their fortune elsewhere. Now there are only about 40 families left. Thus, there are more spare houses in the village and luckily the ancient houses are well kept.

The local people are very kind, no one will refuse a visit to their home. They said they never locked their doors at night because there had never been any cases of stealing.

The houses there have almost no decoration except for bunches of golden corn. These are hung high on the gate, under the eaves or on the windowsill, which makes them look full of happiness. Local farmers said they aimed to show their fortune and wishes for a good harvest in the new year.

At nights people can be seen sitting by their windows in the snow-covered house. Moonshine suffuses the whole village silently.

The winter nights are very cold, however. In just a couple of minutes the water poured on the ground outside froze into a patch of ice. Be careful to dress up warmly.

(Shanghai Star February 14, 2003)