Nanjing Overseas Chinese Village

Nanjing Overseas Chinese Village

Nanjing Overseas Chinese Village, also known as Huaxing Village, is the only overseas Chinese village in Nanjing. The village still retains several residential buildings from the Republican era. It is located in Banqiao Town, Yuhuatai District.

In the 1920s, several young overseas Chinese returned to their homeland, purchased land in Banqiao Town, and founded the “Huaxing Agricultural Co., Ltd.” to promote advanced agricultural techniques. This small village, which carries the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation, was thus given a name rich in meaning — “Huaxing Village.”

A two-story building with a red roof and gray walls blends Chinese and Western architectural styles, facing south and situated to the north. The entrance of the building features a semicircular arch that is slightly recessed, adorned with reliefs of butterflies poised to take flight and flowers and plants with clearly defined veins. The wooden floorboards inside have cracked, and the vermilion paint on the doors has peeled off, exposing the blackened and yellowed wood beneath.

It is said that this was the original office site of the Huaxing Agricultural Co., Ltd. Although Huaxing Village is currently undergoing demolition, this meaningful little building has been preserved as a testament to that period of history.

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty in Nanjing, the former Huaxing Company mainly engaged in agricultural products such as silkworms and mulberry. The village cultivated over 500 acres of mulberry fields and built two silkworm egg production buildings and hundreds of silkworm sheds.

The period from 1926 to 1936 was the most prosperous decade in the history of Huaxing Village. During spring and autumn each year, over 300,000 sheets of silkworm eggs were produced. Speaking of Huaxing Village’s flagship products, many veteran silkworm farmers across the country may have heard of them. The silkworm egg sheets produced under the brands “Dueling Roosters” and “the Great Wall” were once renowned nationwide.