The Ancient Village of Chaji—A Thousand Years of Accumulation

I replied to a blogger's scenic recommendation on Douyin, and many friends wanted to go see it. Flipping through photos, my thoughts seemed to drift back to that beautiful ancient village. After thinking it over, I decided to write a travelogue to record this beautiful ancient village in southern Anhui.\nChaji is less than twenty kilometers from Taohua Tan, the same Taohua Tan that Li Bai visited. "Peach blossoms and flowing waters vanish into the distance, a world apart from the mortal realm." Clearly, the great poet Li Bai lingered here as well. This is the largest existing Ming and Qing dynasty ancient village in China.\nIt doesn't feel like a tourist attraction but rather an ordinary village. People here work at sunrise and rest at sunset. The entire village is built along a river, and the villagers rely on the river for washing and cooking, as if it is the source of the village's endless vitality.\nIn the guesthouse where we stayed, opening the window revealed green bricks and black tiles, along with distant green mountains shrouded in mist. It truly resembled an ink-wash landscape painting. My window was like a picture frame, capturing all the beauty within.\nThe alleys paved with bluestone bricks were too narrow for a single car. Touching the ancient stone bricks, I felt the millennia-old charm. I wondered if there were ancients who also touched this brick, imagining what I was imagining.\nMany famous people have come from this village, so it is dotted with well-preserved ancestral halls. The doorsteps and lintels at the entrance, the central courtyard in the hall, and the carvings on every window and door all reveal the ancient charm of the place.\nThis is the largest sketching base in China. Every day, young students can be seen carrying drawing boards, recording every inch of the scenery here. I remember it rained that day. The evening clouds, along with the students sketching at the entrance of the ancestral hall, were beautiful and soothing.\nI love persimmon trees. The whole tree was laden with golden persimmons, which stood out brilliantly against the moss-covered green bricks and black tiles.