Zhanggao Village

Zhanggao

Zhanggao Village is located in Shaxi Township, Lichuan City, about 40 kilometers from downtown Lichuan. It is a well-preserved Tujia ethnic settlement. The village consists of 45 stilted houses inhabited by over 70 households. Known for its simple folkways, pleasant climate, and stunning landscapes, Zhanggao Village was designated as an Ethnic Minority Characteristic Village by Enshi Prefecture in 2011. In 2013, it was included in the second batch of the “China Traditional Villages” list.

Shaxi Township, where Zhanggao Village is located, was historically part of the ancient Ba Kingdom and is one of the most remote townships in Lichuan City.

Legend has it that Zhang Gao was the first person to settle here. Kind-hearted and generous, he often helped his neighbors and became known far and wide as a good man. At that time, the area had no official name, so “Zhang Gao” became its calling card, and the place came to be called “Zhanggao Village.”

Surrounded by mountains, Zhanggao Village is especially famous for its Leiyin Mountain. There were no roads around Leiyin Mountain, and for centuries, travelers trod out a rugged mountain path in front of the village. This path was once an ancient salt trade route extending from eastern Sichuan (now eastern Chongqing) to Hubei, Chongqing, Hunan, and Guizhou, historically known as the “Ba Salt Ancient Road.” Initially, occasional travelers would stop at the village, which was in the middle of nowhere, to ask for a drink of water or a place to stay. Over time, salt merchants, mountain goods traders, cloth dealers, and even opium traders traveling from north to south found it convenient to lodge here when nightfall made further travel difficult. As a result, the villagers expanded their side rooms, converted kitchens, lit tree-root fires, served corn liquor, and cooked potato rice to help weary travelers recover. Their warm hospitality naturally attracted more guests, leading to the establishment of more than ten small inns in the village, including Mao Dianzi, Heng Dianzi, Chuanxin Dian, and Bayan Dian. A few enterprising families even built a market area of about 100 meters on a stone platform, where businesses dealing in salt, mountain goods, grain, cloth, and gypsum flourished. The village became a key town along the ancient road and enjoyed a period of prosperity. People of Tujia, Miao, Han, and Dong ethnicities lived, thrived, and raised their families here.

Today, Zhanggao Village is home to over 70 households living in 45 ancient dwellings, forming three relatively concentrated courtyards and thus creating three villager groups.

The village houses are mostly built in a straight line (“一” shape), a straight line with one wing room (“丁” shape), or a straight line with two wing rooms (“工” shape). They are constructed along the terrain, following the slope of the land, and many feature upturned eaves and “horse-turning corner towers.”

Hu Xiaoli, an engineer from the Lichuan City Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, said that Zhanggao Village, built along the ancient salt road by the creek, represents a survival choice of settling in a strategically favorable location. The distinctive features of the ancient houses—“stilted architecture, upturned eaves, lattice windows, and vermilion doors”—highlight the fusion of architectural styles from the Tujia, Miao, Dong, and Han ethnicities.