Shahe Wangnao Village

Shahe Wangnao Village

Wangnao Village is located 3.3 kilometers due west of Chai Guan in Shahe City, Xingtai. Here, peaks and ridges are layered, valleys are deep and secluded, and winding mountain roads lead to the high-altitude Stone Nao. “Nao,” also called “Nao,” is a local term for hills. There are many places in the area named after “Nao,” such as Kang Nao, Liu Nao, Chen Nao, Du Nao, and so on. In the middle of the Nao, on a gently sloping piece of land…, it is said that during the Ming Dynasty, a family surnamed Wang reclaimed land here to establish a homestead. The village was also named Wangnao because it is situated on a high Stone Nao. Wangnao Village is an ancient village and architectural complex similar to Yingtan Village in Xingtai County. According to research, the ancient village has over 310 households and more than 810 residents. The village is compact, and apart from daughters-in-law who married into the village, all residents share the surname Wang.

During the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty, the ancestor of the Wang family, originally from Lianggang Village, Chengdu Prefecture, Sichuan—Wang Decai, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard—had a royal tribute convoy ambushed near Zhengzhao in Shahe. Unwilling to return home, he chose to settle in the mountainous region of Wangnao, Shahe, Xingtai. The oldest house in the village today was built when the ancestors first moved here. On the rafters of the roof of an uninhabited stone house south of the village, the faint outline of the character “Ming” can still be seen.

The entire village is like a maze. Some courtyards have hidden cellars, and watchtowers built on higher ground in the village have side rooms used to monitor the surroundings. In case of enemy attack, villagers could evacuate to safety in the shortest time possible. Wang Xianzeng said that over the centuries, Wangnao Village has never been looted.

Walking through the streets of Wangnao Village and looking up at these stone towers, they resemble castles. Perhaps because the ancestors of the Wang family were originally from Sichuan, besides being imposing, these stone towers subtly exude the delicate beauty characteristic of southern Chinese dwellings. The artistic and historical value of the Wangnao ancient architectural complex remains to be further studied and verified by cultural relics experts and ancient architecture specialists.

In Wangnao Village, one can discover many scenes where natural landscapes coexist harmoniously with the ancient settlement: no matter how high the stone towers are built, there are always rectangular drainage outlets protruding from the stone walls to channel rainwater into the streets and nourish the trees; the village is open-plan, and apart from one dead-end alley, villagers can reach any part of the village via any path; the nearby Red Maple Mountain is almost entirely covered with maple trees, which villagers say grew naturally without any human planting.

Transportation Guide

Location: 3.3 kilometers from Chai Guan Township, Shahe City, Xingtai, Hebei Province

Transportation: Take a bus from Shahe City to Chai Guan Township, then transfer to a minibus heading west to reach the destination.