A Day Trip to Jiangcun Village and Hu Shi's Former Residence

The original intention of holidays is to let people relax and be happy, eat, drink, and play as they please, and then devote themselves to work with full enthusiasm. A favorite saying: be united, tense, serious, and lively.

1. On October 2nd, we set off from Fengtai at 6:30 in the morning, drove on the highway for 4.5 hours, and arrived at Jiangcun Village in Jingde County at 11:00 AM.

Jiangcun Village was built between 600 and 630 AD during the late Sui and early Tang dynasties, with a history of 1,400 years.

Jiangcun is located in Baidi Town, 15 kilometers southwest of Jingde County, Anhui Province. The Juxiu Lake at the entrance of the village was just an unnamed pond when I came in 2001.

Jiangcun faces southwest, surrounded by mountains. There are two streams in the village—one called Yulong Stream flows through the village, and the other called Feng Stream winds around the south and west of the village. They meet at the southwest corner of the village and flow westward. Between the two streams lies an artificial pond of about a dozen mu, named Juxiu Lake.

In 2005, Jiangcun was rated as a Famous Chinese Historical and Cultural Village and a National AAAA Tourist Attraction. In 2006, the ancient buildings in Jiangcun were listed as the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council.

Walking into the village under the scorching heat of 37°C, it's already October but still so hot. There has been no effective rainfall for three months—an abnormal climate.

There was a wedding celebration in the village, so we shared in the joy.

I purposely took a photo of this couplet.

The village has national cultural relic protection sites: the Ming Dynasty Filial Son Wenchang Gong Ancestral Hall, Jiang Clan Ancestral Hall, Pu Gong Ancestral Hall, Father-Son Jinshi Archway, and Juxiu Lake.

There are as many as eight ancient ancestral halls in the village, with three remaining intact: Jiang Clan Ancestral Hall, Pu Gong Ancestral Hall, and Ming Dynasty Filial Son Wenchang Gong Ancestral Hall. Pictured below is Pu Gong Ancestral Hall:

Jingde Jiangcun is located in the scenic mountainous area of southern Anhui, within Baidi Town, Jingde County, close to National Highway 205, only 37 kilometers from the Huangshan Scenic Area.

Next to Pu Gong Ancestral Hall is a farmhouse restaurant with a hospitable hostess.

The village gate tower symbolizing 'rising steadily to high positions.'

The well-preserved Jiang Clan Ancestral Hall: The picture below shows Jiang Clan Ancestral Hall in 2001, with slogans clearly visible.

Inside the ancestral hall, many quotes were written on the walls back then:

Quotes from inside the ancestral hall in 2001:

Processing rice at 7 yuan per dan—no matter what, there should still be the flavor of daily life.

Jiangcun currently has 613 households and 2,237 people. Although called Jiangcun, it is not by a river or water; it is a mountain village hidden among the mountains.

After a tour around the village, we returned to Youth Hotel for lunch. Because we all have young hearts, just like the blazing and intense midday sun, but the crops were suffering a bit.

Jiangcun is not big; you can take it easy and relax. It's suitable for a weekend getaway. Two hours is enough for a visit. We spent 1 hour and 20 minutes. After lunch, we got on the highway around 2:00 PM.

From Jiangcun to Hu Shi's Former Residence in Jixi County takes 1.5 hours:

Shangzhuang Town's Shangzhuang Village in Jixi County is located in the west of Jixi County, 38 kilometers from the county seat. It is the seat of the Shangzhuang Town government, covering a total area of 174.7 square kilometers, with 4 natural villages under its jurisdiction.

You may not have heard of the town name Shangzhuang, but you must have heard of Mr. Hu Shi. This advocate of the New Culture Movement was one of the most influential thinkers and scholars of the last century. Shangzhuang is Hu Shi's hometown.

Hu Shi received a total of 35 honorary doctorates in his lifetime: 31 from the United States, 2 from Canada, 1 from the United Kingdom, and 1 from Hong Kong, making him the 'King of Doctorates.'

The parking lot and ticket office at the village entrance:

The village has 15 villager groups, a total of 700 households, and an agricultural population of 2,300. Shangzhuang has many mountains and little land. Its external transportation relies on a 12-kilometer county road connecting to Provincial Highway 217, offering convenient transportation.

Shangzhuang is Hu Shi's hometown. Along the quiet paths, we visited the former residence of the scholar Hu Shi to feel his understanding of culture and freedom.

The town has initially developed tourist attractions such as Qipan Village, Hu Shi's Former Residence, Hu Kaiwen Memorial Hall, and Hu Chuan's Former Residence. Tourism supporting facilities are gradually improving, including one visitor center, two tourist parking lots, two tourist hotels, over 20 farmhouse stays, four tourist souvenir shops, and three tourist commodity production enterprises.

Four ladies visited the Party and Mass Service Center: Comrades, you have worked hard.

Many old houses are preserved in the village:

The village is crisscrossed with paths: we returned to these interlaced alleys, with old houses, crossed wires, mottled stone roads—the flavor of the past is strong here.

Feeling Mr. Hu Shi's inner world: I came from the village, a bit different.

History is a painting, time is the canvas: let us quietly feel the profoundness and complexity of history, the rapid changes of history, the irreversibility of history, sighing over history, helplessness towards history...

Hu Shi's Former Residence was built from the third to the sixth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1877-1880). It is a two-story, one-courtyard structure built by Hu Shi's father, Hu Tiehua.

This is the place where Hu Shi was born and where he married. The last time he returned here was for his mother's funeral. This may not have been the place where he lived the longest, but it had a profound influence on him.

As soon as you enter Hu Shi's Former Residence, you see a statue of Hu Shi facing you in the courtyard. He advocated vernacular Chinese, led the New Culture Movement, and made significant contributions to the spread of modern new ideas.

Hu Shi's Former Residence, where he lived for eleven years, has doors and windows decorated with orchid carvings, reflecting Hu Shi's deep nostalgia for his hometown, as in his poem 'I came from the mountains, bringing orchids.'

Entering the living room, there is a narrow skywell. In the main hall stands a bust of Hu Shi. On the back wall is a couplet written by Chiang Kai-shek after Hu Shi's death: 'A model of old morality in the new culture, a teacher of new thought in old ethics.' Chiang's couplet was written in vernacular Chinese, quite in Hu Shi's style. The first half refers to his lifelong dedication to the new culture, and the second half to his lifelong adherence to old family ethics—these contradictory aspects accompanied Hu Shi throughout his life.

After visiting Hu Shi's Former Residence, we strolled leisurely around the village and returned to the village entrance:

An old building in the village blending Chinese and Western styles:

Leaving Hu Shi's Former Residence, I pondered how Hu Shi, in such a traditional village, broke through tradition and began to accept and promote new ideas.

Half an hour later, we arrived at the largest county-level comprehensive museum in the province—Jixi Museum, which is a comprehensive museum integrating academics, knowledge, culture, and entertainment. We arrived at Jixi Museum at 4:40 PM, and it was closed—only exiting, no entry. If you want to visit, you must arrive before 4:30 PM. We took a photo at the gate to mark our visit.

Just like last year's National Day car tour of Shitai County, this year we toured Jixi County by car. We arrived at our accommodation for the night, Longxi Inn in Longchuan, Jixi, Anhui, around 6:00 PM. The innkeepers were warm and hospitable.

The inn has unique design:

The environment was quiet and elegant.

We feasted in the evening:

We sang karaoke: sitting in a lounge chair, carefree and relaxed, feeling absolutely wonderful.

To avoid disturbing others' rest, we moved the karaoke to the roadside, singing as we pleased, making sure our voices rang out:

At 9:30 PM, we washed up and went to bed. Tomorrow's trip to Longxu Mountain should be a test for us.