More picturesque than Hongcun! The hidden time of Chaji Ancient Village in southern Anhui

—— "Push open the creaking Hui-style gate, and the inkstone-shaped Huansha Stream suddenly comes into view—the sound of washing, the fragrance of ink, and the aroma of rice wine instantly overwhelm me." Chaji, the "ten-mile Chaji village with nine miles of smoke" described by Li Bai, still has 138 ancient buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties breathing in the misty rain, with even the moss telling the lingering charm of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism. 🗺️Ink and wash route: Day 1: Caishen Bridge → De Gong Hall → Honglou Bridge → Painters' Village (stay in a Qing Dynasty old house) Day 2: Erjia Ancestral Hall → Linzhi Bridge → Zouma Building → Chaji Old Street Day 3: Bao Gong Ancestral Hall → Tianshen Bridge → Hike Taiping Mountain 🏯Frozen time: ▫️De Gong Hall: Step into the Yuan Dynasty gatehouse, where four golden nanmu pillars have stood for 700 years. As I touched the "Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate" stone carving, the old man guarding the ancestral hall suddenly opened a secret compartment: "Look! This is a fragment of the ink stick used by Zhu Xi when he inscribed the plaque🧱." ▫️Honglou Bridge: The single-arch bridge from the Ming Dynasty reflects in the stream, resembling a full moon. While sketching at the bridgehead, 88-year-old Grandma Cheng shakily handed me a bamboo stool: "Girl, Liu Haisu used to sit here and paint!" ▫️Painters' Village: A secret place discovered by art school teachers and students 30 years ago. Turning into an alley filled with oil paintings, I was suddenly invited into a century-old tofu shop, where the owner explained while grinding soy milk: "Chaji tofu is made with Taiping Lake water, whiter and more tender than rice paper!" 🍲Hui cuisine secrets: ▫️Moldy tofu: At "Chaji Yipin Pot," watch the mycelium bloom in the oil pot, dip it in spicy sauce, and bite into it—crispy on the outside and glutinous on the inside, with a cheese-like taste🧀! ▫️Steamed egg with fish: Transparent small fish caught from Jingxi, steamed with local eggs, so fresh it makes your eyebrows dance. The owner smiled mysteriously: "These fish can't survive more than 45 minutes away from Chaji water." ▫️Chaji rice wine: Aged underground for 20 years, the aroma of the wine startled the swallows on the beam when the red cloth was lifted. After three cups, the stone road rippled in the moonlight🌙. 📸Film revival spots: 1️⃣Linzhi Bridge morning fog (6 am, smoke and mountain fog dance together) 2️⃣Zouma Building carved windows (afternoon light and shadow cut through century-old wood carvings) 3️⃣Taiping Mountain sea of clouds (need to climb with a flashlight at 4 am⛰️) 4️⃣Autumn drying by the stream (October, chili peppers and corn form a colorful carpet) 💡TIPS: · 3-hour drive from Hefei, luggage will "cry" on the village's stone steps · Golden rapeseed flowers in April, ginkgo trees turn yellow in November · Bring a sketchbook! You can get guidance from old painters anywhere As dusk falls over "Bao Gong Ancestral Hall," I encounter an old man in a blue cloth shirt using ancient methods to make rubbings. As the rice paper covers the Ming Dynasty stone carvings, Zhu Xi's handwritten "Poetry and Rites Passed Down Through Generations" gradually emerges—turns out the real Peach Blossom Land is never defined by tickets.