Huangpu preserves traditional villages

Guangzhou's Huangpu district is now home to a list of 701 "10 types of ancient relics", including ancient villages, roads, bridges and temples, according to the list released by the district in February.

An aerial view of Liantang ancient village. 

Among them, nine types of ancient relics can be found in the 700-year-old Liantang village, and now they all have digital archives, including serial numbers, addresses, ages, legends, and preservation statuses.

The renovation scale of Shenjing ancient village, located on the south side of Changzhou Island, has increased from 37.21 hectares to 256.83 hectares, and only partial repairs are needed to ensure the complete preservation of the ancient buildings.

Built more than 800 years ago, the 13,000-square-meter Wenchong village is surrounded by 26 ancient houses, and has become the city's largest "preservation of historic sites" after its renovation in 2013. 

An aerial view of Wenchong ancient village before its renovation. 

In Hengsha village, the 260-meter "scholar street" in the south area clusters 23 ancient buildings including private schools and ancestral halls, which is rare in the Lingnan area.

Born in Hengsha, Luo Huijuan tries to record the lost ancient buildings with the intangible cultural heritage handicraft qiaopin, artwork made from recyclable materials, such as foam board and paper boxes, which originated from the Qixi Festival, or Chinese Valentine's Day.

"We should study hidden cultures and folk customs more than only focus on the old streets and villages themselves," said Lu Qi, a professor of architecture at South China University of Technology.

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