Self-driving tour in Jiangxi and Guangdong (XI)

More than ten kilometers from Yangcun Town, after passing the Nanwudang Mountain Scenic Area, you will enter Heping County, Heyuan City, Guangdong Province. Take Provincial Highway 339 and then more than 40 kilometers to Yangming Town where Heping County is located. As we entered Guangdong, we felt like we were going downhill all the way. The roadside orange trees (Gannan navel oranges) that we often saw before were now fewer, and the vegetation clearly had the feel of a tropical region. The Heping County Museum is called Yangming Museum. It is located on a small hillside near the county seat, overlooking the Heping County seat. Heping County was established by Wang Yangming after he suppressed the Sanyan Rebellion, and the name was also given by him. Linzhai Ancient Village is located in the southeast of Yangming Town, about 30 kilometers and 40 minutes by car. The ancient village is very large and is located on a flat mountain plain beside the Dongjiang River. The characteristic of this Hakka village is the four-cornered buildings, which are scattered around. Each building is very large and feels like a castle. There are more than 20 such buildings preserved from the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the Republic of China. The four-cornered buildings are basically square, three or four stories high. The outer walls are built with large stones. They have no windows but shooting holes and observation holes. They have outstanding defensive functions, a bit like the Yangcun Yanyiwei we just saw. What makes it different from a walled house is that it has a horizontal house in the middle connecting the two sides, forming a courtyard with two or three entrances inside. It is larger in scale and has more rooms than a walled house. The interior uses earth, wood and stone materials, and has the characteristics of Chinese architecture as well as some elements of Western architecture. It should be an architectural style introduced from Southeast Asia in modern times. This is another representative type of Hakka dwelling. It was really shocking when I saw this kind of building for the first time. Unfortunately, the protection has not kept up, and only a few of them have been repaired. Most of them look good from the outside, but are a bit dilapidated inside. I guess it's because this place is remote and far away from big cities, so it's hard to attract tourism investment and development. Linzhai Ancient Village has a large parking lot, which should be used during holidays and activities. When we went there, there were only three or four groups of tourists. Linzhai Ancient Village