On August 8, the 4th AAUA World Villages Xiqiao Mountain Sustainable Development and Design International Summer Camp, part of the series commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Xiqiao Mountain Scenic Area, was held on Xiqiao Mountain. The event was co-organized by the Xiqiao Mountain Scenic Area Management Committee of Nanhai District, Foshan, the People's Government of Xiqiao Town, Nanhai District, Foshan, the Asian Urban and Architecture Alliance, the Asian Design Award, and New Architecture. A total of 44 faculty members and outstanding student representatives from universities in six countries—China, the United States, France, Spain, Italy, and Japan—conducted creative international collaborative design research through on-site visits and inspections of ancient villages in Xiqiao Mountain and Songtang Village, providing a sustainable blueprint for the development of Xiqiao’s ancient villages and cultural tourism.
Elite Faculty and Students Gather to Co-Design Ancient Village Development
The 4th AAUA World Villages Xiqiao Mountain Sustainable Development and Design International Summer Camp was held at Baiyun Cave on Xiqiao Mountain. At the opening ceremony, leaders and guests including Li Yan, Member of the Standing Committee of Nanhai District Committee and Minister of Propaganda, Guan Haiquan, Deputy Secretary of the Xiqiao Town Party Committee, Kuang Qian, Director of the Office of the Xiqiao Mountain Scenic Area Management Committee of Nanhai District, and Shao Kaijian, Deputy Director of the Nanhai District Culture, Sports, and Tourism Bureau, were all present.
It is reported that this summer camp lasts for 10 days, with participation from 20 universities and 30 outstanding college students from six countries: China, the United States, France, Spain, Italy, and Japan. Among them, fourteen mentors from world-renowned architecture schools such as the Pratt Institute in the United States and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Spain will lead six project groups. They will select target villages among the seven ancient villages of Xiqiao Mountain and Songtang Village for on-site inspections, in-depth research, and design.
Li Yan, Member of the Standing Committee of the Nanhai District Committee and Minister of Propaganda, stated at the event that she looks forward to the international summer camp providing more innovative and beneficial references for Nanhai’s rural revitalization strategy and jointly promoting the sustainable development of the beautiful Xiqiao Mountain.
This event takes the historical and cultural background of Xiqiao Mountain and its ancient villages as a foundation, using an international perspective to systematically study and revitalize the unique humanistic resources of the Xiqiao Mountain region. It aims to identify and explore the unique characteristics of each village, establish development mechanisms suitable for self-operation and self-management, activate and elevate the comprehensive value of its resources, form competitive development models, and explore a sustainable path where Xiqiao Mountain’s ecological civilization coexists with the distinctive development of its villages.
Yao Ling, Secretary-General of the Asian Urban and Architecture Alliance, mentioned that this year marks the 4th AAUA, with the theme of "World Villages." After visiting and comparing many places, they found that Xiqiao Mountain stands out in terms of regional identity, cultural richness, uniqueness, and historical-geographical resources, making it more globally influential. A complete set of project studies will follow, with faculty and students divided into six groups, including topics like development strategies and planning designs.
Exploring Ancient Village Development to Create the Best Lingnan Experience
2018 is the "Leapfrog Improvement Year" of the "Three-Year Action Plan for the Optimization and Upgrade of Xiqiao Mountain." Xiqiao strives to implement the landing of boutique hotel renovation projects and ancient village renovation projects, further strengthen its position as a research and inheritance base for Lingnan Neo-Confucian culture, and enhance the clustering of tourism and cultural creative industries. Additionally, the revitalization and upgrade of the seven ancient villages on the mountain will be carried out, guiding the commercial development of historical and cultural ancient villages at the foot of the mountain, such as Songtang Village in Xiqiao. In March of this year, the Xiqiao Mountain Scenic Area Management Committee, together with the Xiqiao Town Government, held the "Wenhan Qiaoshan, the Most Lingnan—2018 Xiqiao Mountain Cultural Tourism Investment Promotion Conference" in Shenzhen. At the conference, themed around Lingnan culture, Xiqiao Mountain highlighted six major high-quality cultural tourism projects, including the renovation and upgrade of the Biyun Hotel area on Xiqiao Mountain and the revitalization of Lingnan-style ancient villages. Focusing on the seven Lingnan ancient villages on Xiqiao Mountain and the surrounding ancient village resources such as Songtang Village, Jian Village, and Yanqiao Village, the plan is to attract investors to transform these ancient villages into the best Lingnan folk experience destinations, integrating boutique homestays, specialty dining, and cultural creativity, while preserving their heritage.
This year, under the grand strategy of rural revitalization, Xiqiao Town is promoting the "perfect match" between "nationally recognized" characteristic towns and rural revitalization efforts to plan distinctive villages and towns. For years, villagers of Songtang Village in Shangjin’ou have spontaneously preserved their ancient village, retaining "nostalgia" and memories. This not only provides "Xiqiao Experience" for rural revitalization across the province but also creates a "Xiqiao Template" for the development of Xiqiao’s ancient villages. Located ten li west of Xiqiao Mountain, Songtang Village has, since 2010, become a Famous Historical and Cultural Village in Guangdong Province, and later earned the titles of Chinese Famous Historical and Cultural Village, Traditional Chinese Village, and one of Guangdong Province’s Top Ten Most Beautiful Ancient Villages. Throughout history, the village has produced many talents. Just counting the Ming and Qing dynasties, no fewer than 15 scholars from Songtang Ancient Village became imperial examination graduates, shining brightly. The village is dotted with ancient ancestral halls and widespread study halls. Many folk customs are still preserved, with new elements added for the modern era.
Currently, the historical and cultural ancient villages in and around Xiqiao Mountain are scattered like stars. Today, there are seven ancient villages on the mountain: Biyun Village, Yunlu Village, Shipai Village, Dake Village, YunDuan Village, Sibian Village, and Baishan Village, all of which largely retain ancient architectural features like "heluo" roof edges and brick carvings, exuding a strong Lingnan cultural charm. Meanwhile, Songtang Village in Shangjin’ou at the foot of the mountain has been listed among China’s "Top 50 Most Beautiful Villages."
The landscapes of the villages on and off the mountain are picturesque, with traditional Lingnan-style residential buildings everywhere and well-preserved cultural relics, full of ancient village charm. However, the development of villages on and off the mountain is not yet mature, with most villages not yet on a sustainable path for excavating, developing, and preserving their culture, architecture, and local customs. This international design research opens a new chapter for the sustainable integrated development of Xiqiao Mountain’s nature, culture, and ecology, bringing diverse global research outcomes from different perspectives, offering invaluable reference value for the future development of Xiqiao’s ancient villages and creating the best Lingnan experience destination.
Kuang Qian, Director of the Office of the Xiqiao Mountain Scenic Area Management Committee of Nanhai District, stated that in addition to its long-standing cultural heritage, Xiqiao Mountain also offers insights into its various facets, including ancient villages and temples. The choice of location for this event was favored by the Asian Urban and Architecture Alliance due to Xiqiao Mountain’s profound historical culture and well-preserved ancient villages on and off the mountain. The Asian Urban and Architecture Alliance, rich in architectural academic resources, hopes to showcase the beautiful Xiqiao Mountain to the world through this event.
Infusing New Elements of the Era to Upgrade the Cultural Tourism Town
Xiqiao Mountain boasts extremely rare ecological resources, with a unique and irreplaceable geographical location. It has a profound historical and cultural heritage paired with a beautiful natural ecological environment, surrounded by abundant tourism resources such as National Arts Film City, Yufeng Yueyun Tourism and Culture Park, and Nanhai Museum. Centered around Xiqiao Mountain, Xiqiao Town is fully committed to deeply integrating "culture + sports + tourism + urban development," actively exploring and gathering cultural tourism resources based on its rich historical, landscape, and humanistic assets.
In 2012, the construction of the Tingyin Lake area was fully launched, with initial investment exceeding 10 billion yuan. What was once a contiguous area of old factories has now transformed into a new haven for cultural tourism and leisure for residents of Foshan and even the Pearl River Delta. The Tingyin Lake area is the core of the "Lingnan Cultural Tourism RBD," an important carrier of the National Tourism Industry Agglomeration (Experimental) Zone. By optimizing and integrating resources around Xiqiao Mountain, it aims to become the "No. 1 Pole of Lingnan Cultural Tourism." In June 2017, Xiqiao officially launched the construction of a Lingnan Cultural Tourism Town. With projects like the Songcheng · Xiqiao Mountain Lingnan Millennium Love Scenic Area underway, along with the gradual maturation of supporting cultural tourism facilities such as the Qiaoshan Cultural Center, Feihong Pavilion, Hilton Garden Inn, and Guanxin Town, visitors and residents in Xiqiao can experience Lingnan culture while enjoying one-stop services for food, shopping, entertainment, and travel. It is reported that the Songcheng · Xiqiao Mountain Lingnan Millennium Love Scenic Area, covering nearly 15,000 square meters of commercial and tourism land, has a total investment of 1.68 billion yuan and broke ground in March of this year, with an expected opening in 2020. It is conservatively estimated to bring over 1 million additional visitors to Xiqiao Mountain annually.
In 2018, major transportation projects such as air, high-speed rail, subway, and expressways around Xiqiao Mountain were successively launched. The Central Plains-Shenzhen High-Speed Railway’s new trunk line airport is scheduled to start construction within the year, and the second phase of Foshan Metro Line 2 has been confirmed. The rapid transit network, represented by the Foshan Ring Road and the Guangzhou Ring Expressway, continues to improve, making Xiqiao’s location and transportation increasingly superior and convenient.
With the continuous improvement of transportation facilities and cultural tourism support in both the mountainous and Tingyin Lake areas, the conditions and prospects for the revitalization and project implementation of ancient villages have become exceptionally promising, enriching and clarifying the positioning of "the Best Lingnan Cultural Tourism Experience Destination."
At the same time, Xiqiao’s tourist reception volume has grown rapidly year by year. Statistical data shows that in the first half of 2018 (January to June), Xiqiao Town received a total of 2,897,675 tourists, a year-on-year increase of 0.76%, generating a total tourism income of 273 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.5%. In July of this year, the Xiqiao Mountain Scenic Area was awarded the title of "Hong Kong and Macau Youth Mainland Study Tour Base" by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. After more than a decade of active exploration, it has developed several study tour products and routes with significant influence in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and other provinces, high market acceptance, and excellent reputation. In 2017, Xiqiao Mountain received nearly 20,000 study tour participants.
The journey to build a Lingnan cultural tourism characteristic town continues. This summer camp is Xiqiao’s first open event dedicated to ancient village discussions, not only focusing the world’s attention on Xiqiao’s ancient villages but also taking Xiqiao’s future onto the international stage. The research outcomes of the summer camp are not just reflections on architectural design but also comprehensive studies integrating economy, culture, and more. They consider the long-term development of Xiqiao’s ancient villages from the professional knowledge and perspectives of people both domestically and internationally, exploring a creative sustainable development path for Xiqiao and its ancient villages. This will positively contribute to improving the development process of Xiqiao Mountain’s tourism support, promoting Xiqiao’s distinctive cultural tourism, accelerating the comprehensive enhancement of the Xiqiao Mountain scenic area, and the preservation, revitalization, transformation, and reuse of ancient villages, adding momentum to the development of the Lingnan cultural tourism town.
Notably, on August 17, four mentors will deliver presentations, where elite design students from multiple countries will showcase their designs and research findings.
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The 7th Xiqiao Mountain Photography Competition Launches
On the same day (August 8), the "Lanjiao" 2018 7th Xiqiao Mountain Photography Competition, part of the series commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Xiqiao Mountain Scenic Area, was also launched simultaneously at Baiyun Cave on Xiqiao Mountain. Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Xiqiao Mountain Scenic Area, this competition features three major thematic series of photography activities: "Cultural Tourism Sentiment," "Scenic Beauty," and "Ancient Village Charm," encouraging citizens and tourists to capture the charm of Xiqiao Mountain’s landscapes and the allure of its human culture through photography, showcasing the unique and profound cultural tourism essence of Xiqiao Mountain over the past 30 years.
2018 marks the seventh year of the Xiqiao Mountain Photography Competition. This edition is co-organized by the Xiqiao Mountain Scenic Area, the Foshan Photographers Association, and the Agricultural Bank of China Nanhai Xiqiao Branch, with joint support from Southern Daily, the Foshan Youth Photographers Association, the Nanhai District Photographers Association, the Xiqiao Town Photographers Association, Foshan Radio, and the Xiqiao Cultural Station, receiving widespread social support. As a flagship event of Xiqiao Mountain, the Xiqiao Mountain Photography Competition is hailed as the "Oscar" of local Lingnan photography competitions. From the first micro-photography competition in 2012 themed "The Beauty of Qiaoshan in My Eyes" to the present, the competition has received nearly 30,000 submissions, attracting professional photographers from both local and other provinces, as well as photography enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds. Following the Xiqiao Mountain Scenic Area being awarded the title of "Photographic Creation Base of the Foshan Photographers Association" in 2016, this year’s competition continues to collaborate with all five districts of Foshan and plans to exhibit award-winning works in multiple locations across the city, with the event’s scale and influence growing larger each year.
As the Xiqiao Mountain Photography Competition becomes more professional and the submitted works reach higher standards, the first prize for this edition is as high as 5,000 yuan, with total prizes and awards exceeding 30,000 yuan. This photography competition will focus on a series of thematic photography activities, collaborating with photographers and enthusiasts from various regions to capture the rich landscape resources, historical relics, and profound cultural heritage of Xiqiao Mountain, showcasing the charm of Lingnan landscapes and the essence of Lingnan culture through the lens.
Additionally, synchronized with this edition of the Xiqiao Mountain Photography Competition is the "My Story with Xiqiao Mountain" old photo collection activity hosted by Southern Daily. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Xiqiao Mountain Scenic Area, it invites citizens and tourists to submit old photos related to Xiqiao Mountain, sharing their personal stories through these images, adding even more profound meaning. (Text by Zhang Jiayi)