Shuixi Village

Shuixi Village

Shuixi Village — the name couldn’t be simpler, yet it stirs the imagination. What kind of scenery lies to the west of the water? Is there also “a fair lady, beyond the water”? Shuixi Village is located in the eastern suburbs of Guangzhou. The villagers here enjoy nothing more than a leisurely life. The hundreds-of-years-old lychee trees require little care, and each year they yield excellent fruit ready for harvest. These trees are even older than the ancient village houses. There are tens of thousands of lychee trees, each over four or five hundred years old. In addition to the old lychee trees, the mountains are also home to very ancient olive and bayberry trees. Bayberries are harvested in March, lychees in July, olives in August, and chestnuts in September. It’s a life filled with ease and contentment.

During the Ming Dynasty, the Zhong family of Shuixi Village migrated from Jiangxi to Guangdong. The ninth-generation descendant, Xicui Gong, was the village’s first private tutor. For over 500 years, the Zhong family has flourished here. The culture of farming and scholarship has been well preserved. Such a life of cultivation and study is the dream of many city dwellers — thinking of their busy lives, they’d rather hide away in a small village like this and live as a happy farmer.