Zhuangyuan Village | A Thousand-Year-Old Village on the Fujian-Zhejiang Border, Once a Filming Location for a Golden Rooster Award Movie, Picturesque Scenery

If you can't travel far, why not take a stroll nearby.

I enjoy walking through ancient villages, listening to the stories of time, and thus I have recorded many journeys to ancient villages.

Among the many beautiful ancient villages, Shouning Xiqiu Zhuangyuan Village is also one of my favorites.

It's about a 20-minute drive from Taishun. At the village entrance, there is a large tree with a sign that reads: Zhuangyuan Village. Legend has it that this tree was planted by Miao Chan of the Southern Song Dynasty before he left for the capital to take the imperial examination, so that his mother would not miss him too much. Later, when Miao Chan became the top scholar (zhuangyuan), this tree was called the Scholar Tree.

Every time I come here, I take a photo with it. This village gives me a sense of comfort.

The film "Love on the Covered Bridge," which used Xipu Village as its main filming location and featured covered bridges and Bei Lu Opera, won the Best Director Award at the 28th Golden Rooster Film Festival.

On the beautiful streams, there are various kinds of bridges.

This is a thousand-year-old ancient village, also a blood-related village of the Miao clan. Although the village is not large, it preserves a large number of residential houses and ancient buildings. It is said that during the Southern Song Dynasty, the village produced eighteen jinshi (successful candidates in the imperial examination). Hence, the village also enjoys the reputation of "Hometown of the Top Scholar, Land of Jinshi."

The first time I came here was with my parents;

the second time was with a few friends for a field trip;

the third time was with some classmates for rafting...

I have visited no fewer than ten times, and I love this tranquil village. The national intangible cultural heritage "Bei Lu Opera" has been passed down here for a long time. The Covered Bridge Museum here is the first covered-bridge-themed museum in Fujian Province. Along the way, I counted Scholar Archway, Miao Clan Ancestral Hall, Fushou Covered Bridge, Scholar Bridge, Qin Bridge, Taiyin Palace, Dadi Palace, Juxian Pavilion, as well as Yuan Dynasty murals, Ming Dynasty Feng Menglong relics, Qing Dynasty stone archways, and other ancient residences, ancient buildings, and ancient artifacts.

Walking around the village, I encountered families living here, leading a slow life. In the ditch in front of their doors, ducks were playing leisurely, and small fish were swimming freely...

One summer afternoon, we came here. The stepping stones beside the Fushou Covered Bridge were already in the water, with willows drooping gracefully—a beautiful landscape painting.

This stone slab bridge is one of my favorites, but I wonder what the pillars standing beside it are for?

The scene of stepping barefoot into the water, when seen in winter, gives a chilly feeling.

In winter, wearing thick clothes, walking in the wind feels a bit cold...

In spring, we had a meal at a nearby farmhouse restaurant, drinking cup after cup—the scene is still fresh in my memory.

Small bridges, flowing water, homes... give me a relaxed and pleasant feeling.

This village is called Xipu Village. The beauty of Xipu lies in "a willow every three steps, a bridge every ten steps." On a river section less than 2,000 meters long, there are as many as thirteen bridges of various types, averaging one bridge every seventy to eighty meters. If you come, be sure to spend more time at Fushou Bridge, Yong'an Bridge, and the three Qin Bridges.

When you look at the scenery from the bridge, you become part of others' scenery.

On this cold, rainy night, I couldn't focus on the book I was holding; I wanted to go out for a stroll, but it was too cold; I wanted to invite a few friends for drinks, but I was afraid of gaining weight; so I took a time machine and found fun in the moments of my past travels.

Shouning and Taishun are adjacent counties, with close exchanges between the two places. My parents often go to a farmer's house in Shouning to buy eggs.

In Xipu Village, at that farmhouse restaurant behind the old house, there were snails, wine-fermented pork intestines, chicken pot... and a few seasonal vegetables. The prices were reasonable, and the taste was delicious. I wonder if that small restaurant is still open. My father said that the other day, he and uncles came here looking for a small restaurant from about ten years ago, and then they visited Xipu Village again.

Stepping into the thousand-year-old ancient village of Xipu is like stepping into a simple and poetic painting.