Niuguolang Ancient Village

Niuguolang Ancient Village

Chashan Niuguolang Ancient Village, located near the Ecological Park Management Committee, belongs to Chaolang Administrative Village in Chashan Town. Originally called "Louge Long," it was mispronounced as "Niuguolang" due to phonetic similarity, and commonly referred to as "Niujiao Long." Since most villagers surnamed Mai, it is also known as "Mai Wu." Established in the early Southern Song Dynasty, it has a history of over 800 years.

Former Residence of Mai Ritu

The natural ecology of Niuguolang is pristine, transporting visitors back in time to a Ming-Qing era “Shangri-La.” The ancient village boasts 80 historic buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Beyond these structures, its most distinctive feature is its 33 ancient trees, aged between 104 and 764 years. A cluster of banyan trees connects with thousands of square meters of bamboo forest, encircling the old village in a semi-circle—a truly spectacular sight.

The village currently has 80 well-preserved ancient buildings from the Ming and Qing periods, including traditional residences, study rooms, ancestral halls, watchtowers, fortress towers, old temples, wells, lanes, and walls. Among them, the Former Residence of Mai Ritu is a representative structure. The residence consists of a study room, living quarters, and a husking mill area, featuring exquisite wood carvings, stone carvings, brick carvings, wall reliefs, plaster sculptures, murals, panel paintings, and calligraphy. With unique compositions and masterful craftsmanship, these artworks reflect the owner’s refined taste and pursuit of an elegant, tranquil lifestyle.

West Watchtower

Wenming Yixiu Watchtower. This structure features a traditional “wok ear” gable wall design, with a red stone base and upper section built from blue bricks. The eaves are adorned with intricate carvings of flowers, butterflies, and characters. The “wok ears” are topped with convex walls decorated in “Lingnan fruit plaster carvings,” while the lower convex walls display colorful layered plaster carvings of trees and birds—all exquisitely crafted and lifelike.

Niuguolang Village has been honored with titles such as Guangdong Province’s Ancient Village, Guangdong Province’s Historic and Cultural Village, China’s Traditional Village, China’s Landscape Village, and the Most Beautiful Ancient Village in the Pearl River Delta.

Ancient Trees & Bamboo Forest

Among this vast expanse of ancient woods, 33 trees are the most famous, with ages ranging from 100 to 800 years. The largest is a tall banyan tree nearly 800 years old, with a trunk circumference of 8.12 meters—so wide that it takes six or seven people to encircle it. Its canopy covers an area of nearly 60 square meters.

Ancient Trees

Jielongmen Watchtower

The Mai Ancestral Hall is situated in front of Niuguolang Ancient Village, to the left of the Shuqian Ancestral Temple and to the right of the Shaogong Mai Ancestral Hall. It was first built in the third year of the Yuan Emperor Yanyou era (1316). It underwent renovations during both the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Oriented east-to-west, the hall spans 10.7 meters in width and 26.5 meters in depth. It follows a traditional three-bay, three-courtyard, four-gallery, two-courtyard courtyard layout. Constructed with a brick, wood, and stone structure, it features blue brick walls, a mixed beam frame of raised beams and penetrating ties, a hard mountain-style roof, plaster-carved dragon boat ridges, and gray tile roofing. Its pillars, door frames, and corners are all made of red stone. The entrance couplet reads “Prosperous Dragon Forms Leaf, Eternal Family Tradition,” and the horizontal plaque is inscribed “Glory of Martial Valor.” The central hall bears the plaque “Aiguo Hall,” while the rear hall’s sacrificial chamber enshrines the ancestral tablets of the Mai family from the fifth, sixth, and seventh generations of the Song Dynasty.

The ancestral hall embodies the architectural characteristics of Dongguan ancestral halls during the Qing Dynasty and serves as valuable historical material for studying architecture of that period. It is also deeply significant for researching the lineage history of Niuguolang.

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