Longdao Village

　　Longdao Village is located to the south of Zhongshan County, approximately 15 kilometers from the county seat. The village was first built during the Song Dynasty, constructed along the ridges with a pond in front and hills behind, giving it a very imposing presence. The village is filled with ancient houses and watchtowers standing tall. Walking up the steps into the village feels like exploring an ancient fortress.

　　The village has two main features. First, the ancient houses are interconnected, with every household linked to one another. All homes are built with blue bricks and tiles, and the lanes ascend like stairs on a mountain town, with tall buildings resembling castles—showcasing distinct local characteristics. Second, every household has a stone gate, with door frames made of granite and inscribed with couplets (duilian). These carvings come in both intaglio and relief styles, featuring well-balanced and uplifting content. Some are even adorned with bas-relief patterns. Legend has it that long ago, a successful candidate in the imperial examinations (a "ju ren") came from this village. After achieving academic honors, he gave up an official career and returned to his hometown to establish a private school, dedicating himself to teaching and educating others, living a life of simplicity and solitude. In the feudal society where "those who excel in studies can become officials," this was hard for the villagers to understand. Year after year, the ju ren grew old, but the younger generations in the village matured. His lifelong efforts produced a number of local scholars. Eventually, the villagers came to appreciate his noble intentions. To honor his virtue and to demonstrate their own family’s reverence for culture and scholarly tradition, they created this unique cultural landscape.

　　The houses in the village are generally built in two levels according to the terrain. The first level serves as the front section, while the second level is the rear section. The front part has a corridor at the front, pig and cattle pens on both sides, and a central courtyard. Next to the courtyard is an earthen staircase leading up to the rear section (second floor). The main house in the rear section typically consists of three ordinary rooms: the central hall and two side rooms. The rear section is separated from the front by a corridor, which not only leads to the front hall but also connects to kitchens at both ends and the rooms inside the main house. Generally, the front corridor and the rooms or kitchens of the main house are all connected to the outside, making it a very distinctive example of rural architecture.

　　Hetang Village is located within the Zhongshan Hetang Scenic Area and is the main village of the site, about 15 kilometers from the county seat. The village is surrounded by mountains, with a lotus pond at its center. Houses are built around the pond, roads are paved with bluestone, and the area is shaded by green trees. With its ancient paths and old houses, it is truly an original specimen of an ancient rural settlement. During a cultural relics survey and census in the 1970s, a large number of wild animal remains were discovered in the mountains around the village, and abundant fossils of bones from animals such as giant pandas, rhinoceroses, Asian elephants, wild boars, and deer were collected. To date, the giant panda fossil specimens displayed at the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Natural History Museum were still collected from a cave in the back mountains of this village.